Episode 11: Estranged
by JPC
Summary: Just when things start going great, Spike dumps Buffy and tries to return to his bad old ways.
1. The Unthinkable

For those who have not read the previous episodes of this alternate Season 7, the main thing you need to know is that I had Spike return to Sunnydale at the start of the season as a human being with a soul. The new characters and other changes can be understood from the context of how they are mentioned. Connor was in episodes 2 through 10, but he is now back in Los Angeles and not part of the story. The only part he plays in this episode is that Dawn misses him.

Crossovers: Angel and Buffy have a brief phone conversation.

In this episode, Spike sabotages his relationship with Buffy for reasons that will become apparent, though not entirely comprehensible. At the same time, things are heating up between Anya and her new boyfriend Sterling. In addition, Xander starts dating a woman named Elise. Plus, Willow's friendship with Zooey is, as always, on the cusp of becoming something more because of a strong mutual attraction. However, Willow still believes it is too soon after Tara's death for her to even contemplate having a new lover. None of these people have special powers, and none of them as yet know about vampires and demons and such. They do exert a centrifugal force, pulling Willow and Xander away from Buffy at the very time when she's feeling lonely and in need of her friends.

Against this backdrop of personal turmoil and romantic distraction, Buffy finds herself facing a group of demons and vampires who have tapped into some very ancient and powerful energies which technically make them invincible.

Patrick Gugan, an enigmatic and suspicious character who appears briefly in this episode, will reappear in upcoming episodes and become part of the primary plot arc of my season. I promise that he will take things in a highly unexpected and entirely unprecedented direction.

Enjoy. As always, I greatly appreciate your comments, positive or negative. The sooner I get feedback, the sooner I will post chapter two of this story. There are three chapters in all.

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"Are you sure we're in the right town?," the younger vampire asked the older one. "This place is such a dump."

"That's why I know it's the right place," the older vampire answered. "You have to go out of you way to find greatness."

The older vampire was close to six feet tall and looked about thirty. He had dark, curly flowing locks of hair, and piercing blue eyes. They were his trademark. When other vampires went bumpy, their eyes would go green or yellow. But not Ascher's. His would stay blue as the sky on a clear day. His name was a pun on this, because Ascher sounded almost like azure.

The other vampire was about four inches shorter and looked to be in his mid-twenties. He had slicked-back blond hair and gray-green eyes. His name was Oliver.

"That could work in our favor, keep the competition small," Oliver told Ascher.

Ascher heard movement. "Olly shhh. We have company," he whispered. Both vampires went fangy as they scouted their potential victims. But what they saw from a distance of about 50 yards shocked them.

Buffy was out patrolling, and Spike was keeping her company. "You know I love nothing more than being around you Buff," Spike told her. "But on patrol, I feel like Linda McCartney did when she was onstage playing with Paul. I mean, what can I do to help? I don't have any power. I'm just tagging along, pretending I know what I'm doing."

"Spike, you can more than hold your own. That last vampire, you killed him all by yourself."

"That one doesn't bloody count. He was rising from the grave. You're disoriented at that stage. He probably couldn't even see me. Like fish in a barrel. No challenge there."

Buffy put her hands on Spike's chest. "Honestly Spike, which would you rather have: your old powers, or me?"

"I have you?," Spike wondered.

Buffy put her arms around Spike. "You have my heart," she told him. She went to kiss him, but suddenly pulled away. Buffy reached her arm back and grabbed a vampire by the throat. "Do you mind!," she yelled before staking the beast. Then she turned back to Spike and put her arms around him again. "Now where were we?," she asked before kissing him.

"It can't be, it just can't," Oliver said to Ascher.

"You saw his face. You heard his voice. That's our guy. William the Whipped," Ascher replied.

"And to think I once looked up to Spike," Oliver said with disappointment.

"Looked up to?," Ascher said with a laugh. "Olly, you idolized him. He was your hero. You dressed like him, acted like him. Remember that period when you even tried to talk like him? You put bloody' in every sentence."

"Goodbye to all bloody that. The dream has died," Oliver lamented.

"No, Spike has died," Ascher told Oliver. "No, he's met a fate worse than death. I would rather the Slayer stake me through the heart than have her rip out my stones, take away my manhood, and let me live."

"Damn straight," Oliver agreed. "What do you mean Slayer? That little thing, a Slayer?"

Ascher rolled his eyes. "She's walking through a graveyard at night with a stake in her hand. Who else could she be?"

"Wanna pay the lovebirds a visit, show old William he's not the man he used to be?," Oliver asked Ascher.

"After we get what we came for," Ascher replied. "Then the Slayer won't be able to stop us."

Buffy dialed the number. Four rings, then the machine picked up. She quickly hung up. Then she dialed again. Three rings, then someone answered. "Hello. Hello?," he said.

"It's me, Angel," Buffy replied. "If this is a bad time -"

"No, no. Of course not. It's as good a time as any. How are you?"

"Great, actually. How are you and your son getting along?"

"Me and Connor? It's great, really, it's wonderful to have him back. I felt dead without him. Well, um, more dead than usual."

"So he's adjusted to the move?"

"Pretty much. He still misses your sister. The first week back, he seemed to be going through some sort of withdrawal. But he's doing okay now. By the way, I don't mean to be rude, but my son and your sister, did you find that, at all -?"

"Freakish? Frightening? Oh yeah."

"I'm still reeling from that news," Angel confessed. "It just feels, I don't know, wrong. I don't mean to say anything bad about your sister, mind you."

"Just like I have nothing against your son," Buffy assured Angel. (This was actually a bit of a lie.) "They're great kids. Great kids who should be apart, not together."

"Exactly," Angel concurred. "You and me, and Connor and her – it's just a little too close to home."

"Especially when both of them are in your home. So how's the little guy adjusting to the non Dawn-related aspects of the move?"

"He still thinks LA's too noisy. Also, he's keeps complaining about stuff I don't have. Xander had a DVD player. Xander had a bigger stereo. Xander had a bigger television.' I never thought I'd be accused of not measuring up to Xander."

Buffy laughed. "Xander spoiled him. He was really fond of him."

"How bout that. Something Xander and me agree on," Angel joked. "After all, how could anyone not like Connor?"

Buffy could think of a few reasons, but she prudently demurred from giving them. "I'm still trying to get used to the idea of you as a daddy. It was just so out of the blue."

"Buffy, I'm sorry I didn't say anything. I should have told you about everything much earlier. I didn't mean to keep things from you. It was just that -"

"Don't apologize," Buffy responded. "I didn't exactly keep you up-to-date about my life. After I found out about you and your son, I could have called you. And I didn't. There were things happening here you needed to know about, things involving your flesh and blood, and I didn't have the guts to tell you what you had a right to know. You must have been worried sick about him, but I kept quiet. I treated you like you were a stranger. I'm the one who needs to apologize."

"It's alright, Buffy. I kept you in the dark about Connor, so it was only fair of you to return the favor. But it started long before Connor. We were afraid that we were growing apart. I worried that if I talked to you about your life, I would realize how far apart our lives had moved. But by cutting you off, I made sure we'd grow apart."

Buffy knew she had done the same thing. "It's like we're not afraid of anything but each other. We risk our lives all the time. But we can't even summon the courage to risk talking to each other."

"Even when we were at the lowest points in our lives," Angel added.

"Who knows. Maybe if we could have been there for each other we could have avoided this whole double train wreck. We care for each other so much. I love you, Angel. Maybe not in the exact same way I once did, but I know I love you, a lot. An awful lot."

"I'll always love you, Buffy. You'll be a part of me as long as I'm on this earth. I guess at some point I lost sight of that."

"I think that's everything," Spike told Buffy as he moved into his new apartment. It was on Main Street, about two blocks from the Magic Shop. The second-floor flat was just above a dentist's office and looked out onto the street.

"So how do you like highrise living?," Buffy joked. It was only ten feet off the ground, but that was a lot for a guy who was used to living underground.

"It is a bit disorienting. The ground's below me. And there are all these windows letting the sunlight flood in. It's new, living like a person."

"I think it beats your old place. At least here I can take a shower in the morning."

This stunned Spike. "Morning? You mean, after staying the night?"

"If you play your cards right," Buffy responded playfully. "I never knew you could make me happy. But you have. I love you. There, I finally said it. I love you, Spike."

Spike had been waiting had been waiting for a very long time to hear this. (Buffy declared her love once before, but that was under false pretenses, since she didn't know why Spike had gone to Africa.) Finally, everything was perfect. "This is too good to be true," Spike told Buffy. "Is this a dream?"

She looked at her watch. "If this was a dream I wouldn't have to leave right now." She kissed Spike and left. Spike fell on his bed and stared at the ceiling, trying to get used to a new feeling – contentment.

A month had passed since Connor left. Dawn was desolate. She was the one who suffered most from the move. Connor lost Dawn, but he gained his father. Dawn lost Connor, and she gained nothing. Now she was back to being lonely old Dawny, the little kid everyone else was too busy to spend time with. Dawn called Janice. Janice had always been there for her in the past. But this time, Janice was busy. After all, Janice still had a boyfriend.

"Dawn, I'm sorry, but I have plans. With Brandon. That thing I told you about last week."

"Oh, of course," Dawn replied. "What about tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow's not good. Brandon has that family barbeque, and he wants me there to keep him company. Being around that many relatives is always tough for him. You know how his family can be."

"I understand, Janice. Well then, I guess I'll see you in school on Monday."

It was a around noon on Saturday. After spending the morning studying, Willow decided to take a break. She drove over to Zooey's place. Though she wasn't ready for a new relationship. Willow liked spending time with Zooey. She made Willow feel special.

"Hey Willow! This is a surprise. I like surprises," Zooey told Willow as she entered. Zooey's braids were gone. Her hair was short, straight, and blonde.

"I just wanted to drop by, see how you were doing. How is everything? How was Christmas with your parents?"

"It was good. It's nice to see the 'rents every now and then."

Willow heard water running. "Uh, Zooey, do you know your shower's on?"

"Uh-huh," Zooey casually answered. "How did exams go?"

"Pretty good. I still have one left." Willow noticed the shower stopped running. She was a little confused. "I'm on my way to the library now. Well, not really, since the library's south of where I live and you're north of me, which means I kind of went out of my way to see you. Which I'm glad I did, since I haven't seen you since you in a few weeks, and I just wanted to get caught up on what you've been doing."

Willow's nervous rambling was ended by the sight of a tall, striking brunette emerging (fully dressed) from Zooey's bathroom. She walked over to Zooey, kissed her, smiled and said "Zooey, I had a great time last night. You should call me. Maybe we can get together again sometime."

"Maybe I'll see you around, Tracey," Zooey told her somewhat dismissively.

"It's Stacey," the woman replied, a little annoyed.

"Oh. Right," Zooey nonchalantly conceded. The woman walked out. Zooey seemed to barely notice her presence. Willow certainly noticed Stacey's presence.

"Who was that?," a shocked and confused Willow asked Zooey.

"Stacey, I guess," Zooey said with a smirk. "You're not jealous, are you?"

"Would it make you happy if I were?," Willow responded. "Was that the whole point of this?"

"The point of what?," Zooey wondered.

"Oh, come one! I come over, watch some little floozy parade around ogling you. It's the perfect setup."

"True. If I knew you were coming over, which I didn't. She's not my girlfriend. She was fun, but I'm not gonna miss her. It's Easy to find people who can give you a good time. Hard to find a that special someone who can give you more. The only woman I miss, the only one I think about when she's gone, is you Willow. Funny how the one woman I really want is the one woman I can't have."

"Oh, you can have me," Willow blurted out without really meaning to. "Uh, um, I mean, you could, hypothetically, theoretically, if circumstances were different . . . I happen to like what you've done with your hair, by the way. It's very playful. Not that I didn't like your hair before. I've liked everything you've done with your hair and, boy, aren't I a veritable avalanche of ramblings today. Did you just say I'm the only person you've ever loved?"

"The only woman," Zooey answered.

"So there've been guys?," Willow inquired.

"One guy. Graham. Back in high school. We were pretty serious for a couple years. Till he dumped me."

"Was it after Graham that you realized you were gay?"

"You think I'm gay?," Zooey asked in all seriousness.

This question baffled Willow. "Uh, see, Zooey, the thing is, all evidence would appear to point to that conclusion."

"So you think that one day I stopped liking men and starting liking women? Is that how it was for you, Willow? Leave one team and join the other?"

"Kind of," Willow tentatively answered. "Once I met Tara I never wanted another man."

"Did you want other women?"

"Of course not."

"You just wanted Tara," Zooey concluded.

"I loved her. I mean, I still love her. I'll always love her."

"That's my point," Zooey announced. "You loved the person, not the gender."

Willow kind of guessed where this was going. "Is this some roundabout way of trying to tell me you also like guys?"

"Theoretically, hypothetically, if the right one came along at the right time. As it is, most guys are intimidated by me. I tend to make a better impression on the stronger sex."

"Okay, you're omnivorous," Willow joked. "By the way, what do you mean that's the half of it? What's the other half?"

"Something tells me you're the same way."

Willow was stunned. "I don't mean to be rude, I like you and we're friends and all. But where the hell do you get off telling me who or what I am!"

"Before you loved Tara, did you ever love a guy?"

"Yes, um, there was a guy, two guys," Willow answered, referring to Oz and Xander. Then she got mad again. "You think Tara was just a phase!? An experiment! How dare you."

"No, no, no, Willow. You got me all wrong. I'm saying there were no phases. You didn't fall in love with women. You fell in love with Tara. Just Tara. She was the only one you were attracted to."

Willow pauses for a few seconds before responding. "That was a real clever trick you pulled. Trying to back me into a corner, force me to admit I'm attracted to you."

"Don't need to trick you. I already know you're attracted to me. I've known that since the moment we met. I bet if I grabbed you and kissed you right now, you wouldn't stop me. Bet I could do a lot more than that, and you'd love every second. But then you'd hate me afterwards, and probably never speak to me ever again. But I don't wanna take that bet, cause having you as my friend tomorrow is more important to me than having you as my lover today."

Willow takes a few seconds to recover from this provocative avowal of friendship. "Wow. You sure have a way of making friendship sound, special. Really, really special."

"What can I say? Willow, you're worth the will power."

Dawn was lonely and alienated, and whenever she felt lonely and alienated, she went to Spike's. Buffy had left, and Spike was getting used to his new environs when Dawn burst in. "I liked your old place better. It had character, mystery. This is just a bright, shiny box. Makes you seem a lot less dangerous and rebellious and, you know, cool."

"Believe me, what it lacks in ambience it makes up for in hot-and-cold running water," Spike explained. "And there's a lot less mold, and no dank. I starting to like the absence of dank."

"I miss vampire Spike," Dawn said with a sigh. "Face it, you've become boring."

"And you like things that are exciting?," Spike asked. "Glory –she was exciting. That musical demon who tried to make you his child bride – he was exciting."

"Steven was exciting," Dawn responded. "You took him away from me."

Spike was flabbergasted. "I wasn't taking him away from anybody. I was taking him back to his father."

"Xander told me that you told him that if Steven was in Los Angeles he wouldn't be near me. He said you wanted to separate us. That true?"

"Yes, that's what I told Xander. But no, that's not the truth. Xander doesn't like Angel. He may not hate Angel, but at the very least he'd like to superglue crucifixes to certain parts of Angel's body. Obviously Xander wasn't eager to do Angel any favors. So I sold him on the idea by playing to his fears."

Dawn didn't quite understand. "He was afraid of what I would do to Steven?"

Spike laughed. "He was afraid of what Steven would do to you. Him and Buffy both. They didn't understand your relationship. Thought that he was trying to take away your innocence. Saw him as the aggressor. Thought you needed to be protected. Course they had it completely backwards. You're the one in control. He's the wide-eyed innocent. Poor boy's putty in your hands."

Dawn appreciated the compliment. "Thanks. I'm glad someone's noticed I'm not a little girl anymore."

In addition to studying for exams, Willow had spent the last month trying to complete the "homework assignment" Patrick Gugan had given her: "My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes beheld my unformed substance." It took her a while to identify the quote: it was Verse 16 from Psalm 139. It was sometimes interpreted as the first extant reference to the golem, a protection monster found in Jewish folklore. Created by a spiritually and magically powerful men to protect the community, the golem was "without pity for the wicked, fierce toward our enemies." Men made the golem out of clay, just as God had made Adam. The legend represents attempts by humans to play God. In the Sefer Yetsirah, the third-century book about creation, a Jewish mystic tried to figure out the formulas God used to create Adam, using the alphanumeric codes to which the Hebrew language lends itself. To Willow, this sounded very similar to Gugan's talk about using genetic engineering to manipulate the "code" of life. It appeared Willow had stumbled across a 21st century Dr. Frankenstein, or a 21st century Maggie Walsh, which was actually more frightening.

Willow burst into Gugan's office. "You took longer than I thought," he calmy commented.

"That thing, that thing in the closet, that was a golem?"

Gugan laughed. "That was a Kaldioran demon. I was studying that dangerous creature before you liberated it. By the way, does your friend want her knife back?"

His imperturbable cool was really perturbing Willow. "Patrick, I liked you. You were a nice, sweet guy. So when did you go all cryptic and develop a God complex?"

"You think I'm trying to play God? What have I done that would make you think that? Have I given people souls? Have I raised the dead?"

Gugan seemed to know a lot about Willow, and he appeared to enjoy tormenting her with his knowledge. She didn't know what to say. So Gugan kept talking.

"Willow, what do you think? Does someone who gives people souls and raises the dead have a God complex? Just talking hypothetically of course." Willow didn't answer. She thought he was implying that she had a God complex, that she used magic to try to play God. "The answer's no," Gugan continued. "God can do the one thing humans cannot do – make something out of nothing. God creates. Humans merely manipulate. Restoring life, restoring souls, that's just manipulation. Moving around matter which already exists."

"And what does this have to do with anything?," Willow wondered.

"The golem is something made out of nothing, something living created from non-living matter. I'm not making a golem. I'm not playing God. I'm merely manipulating what already exists."

"Then what was the point of your riddle? You just like wasting my time?"

"The point was to teach you not to take things out of context." Gugan paused for a few seconds. Then he handed Willow something. "Almost forgot. Here's your final exam. Best score in the class. No surprise there."

Spike was with his band, talking about their upcoming tour, their first tour. "Santa Cruz, Olympia, Portland, Pasadena, Fresno, those are definites?," Elise asked.

"They're confirmed," said Aidan, who was handling the bookings. "San Jose, Sacramento and Tacoma are almost definites. Eugene and Santa Barbara are probables."

A real tour. Everything was falling into place for Spike. But when they started practicing, something didn't feel right. Spike was missing chords. He wasn't keeping time. His singing was far more off-key than usual. He quickly broke two strings. Within five minutes the practice was a complete train wreck.

"Oh balls. I'm just not myself today. Tell you what, we've been playing a lot lately. Wouldn't want to get stale. Practicing will just make us sound rehearsed. Let's call it a day and I'll see you morning after tomorrow when we leave for Santa Cruz. We'll be doing enough playing on the road. Wouldn't want to get bloody awful monotonous now would we?"

Spike headed home. He wasn't sure what was wrong. But it didn't bother him. So what if he couldn't play the guitar today. He had Buffy. She loved him. So nothing else mattered. He went to Buffy's house to pay her a visit.

"So soon? I thought you had practice?"

"What can I say? I missed you, pet. I'm mad about you, and I'd go mad without you."

Buffy smiled and kissed him. "No need to worry about that. I'm your girl." She kissed him again. They were both blissfully focused on one another, full of eager anticipation.

For some reason, Spike heard Buffy's past remarks in the back of his head. "I could never love you!" "I could never be your girl!" He tried to ignore this dissonant background noise.

"House is quiet. Where is everybody?," Spike asked.

"Willow's at the library. Dawn's out with friends. We've got the house to ourselves," Buffy told Spike. They sat down on the couch.

"That reminds me, Dawn stopped by my new place after you left. She seemed pretty blue about her boy being gone."

"Dawn's been returning to mope mode recently," Buffy replied. "Angel told me Connor's kind of been the same way."

"You talked to Angel?," Spike asked, a little surprised.

"I called to see how he was doing. Plus, we had a little catching up to do. He was really pretty mellow about everything. Said he's glad you make me happy. He knows that I love you, that I belong with you." They started kissing. She put her left hand under his shirt. She liked to feel his heart beat. It reminded her of how much he'd changed.

In his head, Spike now heard some of his own past remarks. "You two (Buffy and Angel) will never be friends. You'll always love each other. You'll never be free of each other." He didn't know what was happening. It was like his conscience or his superego or his id was playing devil's advocate. Spike tried to ignore it. He didn't want his thoughts to intrude on this wonderful moment he was having with Buffy. He kissed her some more. She sat in his lap, faced him and straddled his body with her legs. "I need you Buffy. I can't live without you. You mean everything to me" Spike blurted out between kisses to try to counter his own subversive thoughts.

"I love you Spike. I love what you've become."

That last comment stopped Spike in his tracks. "What have I become?"

Buffy explained. "You're generous, and good, and brave, and passionate"

"And human," Spike interjected..

"Of course. Hot-blooded, breathing and no longer nocturnal."

"And weak," Spike added as he got off the couch and stood up.

"Spike, you're not weak."

"I'm weaker than I used to be. But you like me better this way."

"That's not why," Buffy pleaded, unsure as to why Spike had suddenly turned hyper-neurotic.

"Bloody well yes it is. You told me you could never love me as a vampire. You could never love me when I was strong. Now that I'm tamed, and you've turned me into your obedient little puppy dog, now you love me."

"I don't love you for what you've lost. I love you for what you've gained. I love your soul."

"Just like you love Angel's soul?"

"Don't bring him into this."

"You still love him."

"Why the hell are you doing this? Spike, it's you I love."

"But you also love Angel. You've always loved him."

"Not the way I love you. Yes, I still love Angel, but as a friend."

Spike chuckled. "As a friend? The same way you love Xander as a friend?"

Buffy was confused. "Why are you saying all these things?"

"Buffy, if Angel became human, would you stay with me, or would you run to him?"

"Spike that's a ridiculous – that's not going to happen."

"What if it did? What if you two could have what you always wanted. Would you turn your back on that to stay with me?"

"Spike, why are you doing this?"

"You know I'll always love you. Buffy, you're like herpes. Once a guy's got you under his skin, he can never get rid of you. But I can't be your number two. I'm not gonna be Angel's substitute. Not again." Spike walked into the foyer. Buffy went after him.

"Spike, please. This is crazy. Angel's in my past, from another part of my life. You know I'd never leave you."

"You're a lousy liar."

And exasperated and confused Buffy grabbed Spike and tried to make him come to his senses. "What has gotten into you?" Spike grabbed Buffy's wrists and threw her to the ground. He had his old fire back in his eyes, his old snarl across his face.

"Ever since the day we've met, you've been the death of me," he growled at Buffy before leaving. She sat on the floor, sobbing. It was so sudden. So inexplicable. Everything was wonderful. And then everything fell apart.

Spike felt angry, but liberated. Like a beast who had broken out of his cage. No more living for Buffy. Now Spike would live for Spike. He knew he could never have been happy playing it safe.

He drove over to the college and walked into the library, where he saw Willow sitting at a table studying. He stood fifteen feet in front of her, doing his best pout. Mouth puckered, eyebrows slightly raised, head slightly downward and to the right, hands in pockets, back slightly slouched. The whole James Dean vulnerable look.

Willow saw him. She could tell something was wrong. Spike asked if they could go somewhere to talk. Willow did have a place to go. A friend of hers had a single she rarely used because she spent most of her time in her boyfriend's dorm room. This friend let Willow use her room. Even gave her the key. If Willow was at school studying late, she could crash there instead of driving all the way home. Spike couldn't believe his good fortune.

As they walked, Spike made small talk, avoiding what was bothering him. He found out Willow was worried about a biology teacher of hers named Patrick Gugan. Spike told Willow it sounded a little like a mini-Initiative. Willow said she had thought the same thing – it was the obvious and unavoidable analogy to make. The difference was Gugan had no visible funding and wasn't at all secretive. He almost seemed to want Willow to discover what he was up to. However, it had been much easier to hack into the Initiative's computers than it was to hack into Gugan's. They got to the room. Spike entered and furtively checked his hair in the mirror. (he still liked the novelty of seeing his own reflection) As usual, his hair was perfect. Willow sat on the bed. Spike remained standing.

"I was wrong," Spike told Willow.

"Wrong about what?"

"Wrong about Buffy. I fooled myself into thinking I could be her one and only."

"But Spike, she loves you."

"That's the bitter irony. Once I knew that she loved me, I realized it was over. Because, no matter how much she loves me, she'll never love me more than she loves Angel." Spike sat down on the bed and looked dejected, trying to make Willow feel sorry for him and deceive her into believing the break-up was Buffy's fault.

"Did she say that?"

"She didn't have to. I could tell. You know how those two felt about each other. You know what he meant to her. No other man can ever mean that much to her. She'd never say in so many words, but she didn't exactly protest when I made the assertion."

Willow understood what he was talking about. She knew this was why Riley left. "Spike, I'm so sorry. But you made Buffy so happy. And she made you happy, didn't she? I know how much she meant to you."

"I was happy. She seemed happy. But I needed more than that. To me, love is when I'm the only one for her and she's the only one for me. But I can't have that with Buffy, no matter how much I try. Part of her will always belong to him. Our love would be a lie."

"Spike, you have to give her a chance. A few months ago, you two weren't even on speaking terms. A lot's changed. A lot more can change. With you two, the rule is never say never."

"She'll never stop loving Angel."

"Spike, that's really unfair to Buffy. You're saying because of a past relationship she should be condemned to a life of loneliness and misery."

"If I stayed with her, I'd just make her miserable. I'm not healthy for her. For the last month, I've tried my best to be the good, upright, wholesome Boy Scout of a boyfriend she wants and needs. But it's an act. It's a lie. It's not me. And I can't keep it up forever. I'm not right for her. We're just not meant to be. It hurts me to say this, and I know it hurts Buffy to hear it, but in the end it's what's best for the both of us."

"Spike, you're not evil. Not anymore. You know that, right?"

"I know I'm good. I'm just not good for her. Maybe I'm good for someone else. Someone I've never had to prove anything to. You know what I'm talking about?," Spike asked, leaning his head towards hers and lightly and "accidentally" stroking the tip of her nose with his right index finger.

"That's what everyone wants." Willow responded.

"Like what I have with you?," Spike asked with raised eyebrows and a smile. He reached out his right hand and touches her hair. Willow read nothing into this since that of course would be ridiculous.

"I suppose," Willow answered, a little confused by the question. "Except with, you know, mutual attraction."

"Always gotta have that," Spike added nonchalantly. After two seconds of staring at her in awkward silence Spike moved in to kiss Willow. She sat still, trying to make sense of what was happening. This didn't seem real. After five seconds, Willow was sure that it was real and she pushed Spike away. She laughed nervously for a few seconds, assuming this was sort of bizarre joke.

"What was that?," she asked Spike.

"What do you think it was?," Spike asked back. He caressed the left side of her face with his right hand and moved in to kiss her again. A few seconds after their lips meant, Willow came to the horrible realization that Spike was serious. She pushed him away and stood up. 

"Spike, what the hell is wrong with you!?"

"Come on Red. We've always had a certain chemistry." He gave her a seductive, predatory smile and ran his right hand through her hair. She knocked it away and took a step back. "We always seem to be there for each other's breakups."

"You were trying to kill me!"

"I was a vampire. That's our way. But I'm different now."

"So am I – have you forgotten that I'm gay?

"I've always liked a challenge." Spike moved towards her and smiles. "I know what you're thinking: this could never happen, I'm crazy for thinking it could, it'll be a cold day in Sunnyhell before you ever let me touch you. Where have I heard that before?" Spike stared intensely into Willow's eyes as he grabbed her hips and pulled her towards him. She pushed him away and slapped Spike's face with her right hand. He seemed to be glad that she struck him.

"Get out hell out," Willow told him, her voice full of both incomprehension and disgust.

"Women," Spike chortled as he left the room. Willow stood there for about a minute, allowing herself to calm down. She couldn't quite believe what had just happened. Spike was always erratic, but this was irrational even by his standards.

Buffy was still at home, trying to figure what she did to make Spike so mad. Then the phone rang. "Hello? Willow, what's wrong? You sound upset. He, he, he did what? He did what!" Buffy realized she was a fool to blame herself. Sadness turned to livid anger. Buffy's only regret was that she had given Spike a chance.

Having successfully burned all his bridges with Buffy and guaranteed that she would want nothing to do with him ever again, Spike sped for home. He parked his car outside his apartment, his hole-in-the-wall above a dentist's office. It reminded Spike of everything he had been forced to give up. Everything he had let this rotten hellhole of a town do to him. Deep down, Spike believed he was doing Buffy a favor by nipping their doomed relationship in the bud. Spike knew he could never have been the nice, stable, dependable boyfriend she craved and needed. He was finished with traveling down that cul-de-sac. His only hope was to start over.

"Buffy, I'm so sorry Buffy," Willow said when she got home.

"Don't apologize. You had nothing to do with it. Spike's just rotten. It's his nature."

"He was so sweet. And sensitive. And then, suddenly, out of the blue - "

"He showed his true face," Buffy added, finishing Willow's sentence. "He used me. He uses everybody. Spike only cares about himself. That's all he's ever cared about."

"I still can't understand. You were all he lived for – literally. And you two were actually, finally happy together. It's like winning the lottery just so you can burn the cash. Why would he do this?"

"It's his way. He builds you up just so he can enjoy dragging you down. Ever since that chip stopped him from feeding, that's how he's gotten his kicks. By dragging me, by dragging all of us, down to his level. He feeds of everything decent, and sucks it dry."

"Just because it has a soul doesn't mean it's not a monster. We should have learned that by now," Willow bitterly commented.

"He only hurt me cause I let him," Buffy responded. "I'm done giving Spike another chance. We're free of him now."

"Good riddance," Willow answered.

NEXT: Buffy takes out her anger on the demon population of Sunnydale, causing her enemies to question her sanity. Spike tries to be bad, but finds it's tougher when you're human. And on the lighter side, Anya and her new boyfriend set Xander up on a blind date.


	2. On The Hunt

Dawn was out wandering, trying to pass the time. She went in and out of stores. Thought of stealing stuff, but never went through with it. She didn't feel the old excitement. She knew it wouldn't make her feel better this time. Then she saw the black silk shirt she had picked out for Connor, the one that Xander wouldn't buy. Dawn still couldn't understand why Xander freaked out when he saw Connor in those clothes.

Seeing the shirt just reminded her off what she had lost. Connor was gone, and once again she was all alone. She tried to figure what else to do to pass the time. Shoplifting seemed so immature to her now. She needed to find another thrill.

"Anya?," Xander asked as he opened his apartment door.

"Let's go out," Anya told him.

"What?"

"You don't have plans, do you? I anticipated that you wouldn't, what with your loneliness and wretched isolation and all."

"Thanks for caring," Xander sarcastically responded.

"I just thought you'd like to go out with me. It could be fun. Much more fun than watching "Apocalypse Now" for the 15th time and eating Cheetos with a spoon."

The scary thing was, this was what Xander actually was planning to do. Anya knew him all too well. "You want to go out? With me? Have you been struck in the head lately, suffered some memory loss?"

"Always with the humor. That's my Xander. Nope, memory's fine. I remember how you humiliated me, stripped me of my self-respect, made me wish I had died before I ever met you. I remember everything. But I've moved on. Now you have to move on. You need to get over me. That's why we need to go out."

Xander still had no idea what was going on. "Well, then, come in. Just give me a minute to get ready."

Anya entered. "Change your clothes. Put on something nice. And it wouldn't kill you to comb your hair. My god, this place is a pig sty! Have you thought of hiring a cleaning lady? Do you even own a vacuum?"

The sun had set. It was Spike's time of the day. He staggered around the back alleys, figuring out what to do with himself. He heard music coming out of an adjacent building. It was a bar. Just where Spike belonged. Now he would have some fun.

Buffy had to take her anger out on something. Why not vampires? After all, Spike had been one. It was an odd instance of collective guilt – punishing many vampires for the misdeeds of one former vampire. But then again, it's not like the vampires didn't deserve to die.

Buffy walked into Willy's, which was packed with rowdy demons this Saturday night. Everyone grew quiet. A Slayer in a demon bar? It didn't make sense. Sure, she might want to kill all of them. But there were more than two dozen of them. Far too many for any one Slayer to take on single-handed. Buffy opened up her coat, to show that she had no weapons on her. "All you demons can leave. I'm only here for the vampires," she announced. The demons and the vampires laughed. "No weapons. No tricks. No crosses, no holy water, not even a stake. Just me, and all of you. Who thinks it's a good night to die?"

For a long time, there had been rumors going around the Sunnydale demon underworld that the Slayer had a death wish. Still, the vampires thought this was a bit over the top. But if Buffy wanted to go on a death ride, they sure weren't going to object. And the demons relished the chance to watch her die. She was just standing there, like a lamb waiting for the onslaught.

Two of the bolder vampires charged Buffy. She punched them both simultaneously, one with her right fist, one with her left. A less bolder vampire hit Buffy from behind with a stool. Buffy didn't flinch when the stool shattered across her back. She grabbed a piece of one of the legs and staked the vampire from behind. "Shouldn't keep all this wood around. I mean, come on fellas. You're making my job so easy."

The rest of the vampires charged en masse at Buffy. The demons watched. But they had started to inch towards the rear exit. They weren't crazy about tangling with a psychotic Slayer. Buffy reached to her right, grabbed a table, and threw it in the path of the onrushing vampires. The vampires in front tried to move out of the way. But the weight of all the vampires behind them pushed them forward into the table. They trampled over the table, breaking it to pieces, and knocking themselves down in the process.

Buffy ripped a long slice of the wooden railing from the bar and stuck it into the vampire pile. It pierced the hearts of two vampires. She pulled it out, then stuck it in again. This time, she plunged it through the wooden floor. As the vampires rose to their feet, she moved behind them, towards the center of the bar. She glared at the demon bystanders. They fled out the back exit.

A couple vampires were skewered on the wooden stake Buffy had stuck into the floor. "Oh look, vampire shishkabob," Buffy joked. Three vampires were impaled – one through the leg, one through the stomach, and one through the neck. Buffy thought they looked funny down there, stuck to the ground, writhing in agony. A Slayer who got a kick out of impaling her victims – Dracula was right when he told Buffy they had a few things in common.

Still, it was way too early for Buffy to declare victory. Ten vampires were still on their feet, and they tried to surround her. She kicked and punched and threw a few of them to the back of the bar. When one vampire tried to punch her, she grabbed his arm and threw him into an approaching vampire, knocking them both to the ground. She decided she needed a weapon, so she pulled up the long stake which was still impaling the three vampires. Two vampires charged Buffy from her left. She turned and drove the pike home, getting both of them in the heart.

Another vampire swung a glass liquor bottle at Buffy's head. She ducked out of the way and dropped her pike. The bottle smashed into the top of the bar and its bottom half broke off. Buffy punched the vampire in the stomach and smashed his right arm into the bar. He let go of the broken bottle. Buffy picked it up. Now that it was broken, it made a razor-sharp edged weapon. Buffy sliced this vampire's neck all the way around. When she was done, the vampire's head slowly fell off his body. It was a fun beheading for Buffy.

While she took a second to savor this gory kill, another vampire punched Buffy in the face. She drove the broken bottle straight through his temple. It didn't kill him, but it really hurt. And it made him look like his brain was on tap. Meanwhile, a burly vampire grabbed Buffy and threw her into the back wall. In fact, he threw her partway through the back wall. But Buffy quickly recovered. When the burly vampire charged her, she grabbed him and threw him face first into a mirror. (Mirror in a vampire bar? Decorator must have had a sense of humor.)

Buffy grabbed one of the larger shards of glass, and stuck it right through the burly vampire's neck. Then she grabbed his hair and pulled his partially severed head clean off his body. Buffy was having fun with her unorthodox decapitations. She turned to look at a part of the mirror which was still on the wall and checked her appearance. Seven vampires down, her hair was still perfect, and not a scratch on her face. Not bad at all, she thought.

Of course she couldn't see any of the attackers behind her. But she heard a fist coming at her head from behind. She ducked in time, and the fist went through the wall. Before the vampire could extract his arm, Buffy slugged him in the stomach. She didn't know how hard she slugged him until she saw her fist coming out of his lower back. This was a first. Buffy pulled her arm out of the vampire's guts as he pulled his arm out of the drywall. When he saw the hole in his abdomen, he was quite shocked and horrified. It looked like a small cannonball had traveled through him.

It was clear to the smarter and less-injured vampires that they needed weapons. One of these vampires kicked through a glass case and grabbed the fire extinguisher, which he handed to a friend. He took the ax. The vampire with the extinguisher swung the heavy object at Buffy. She grabbed hold of it and pushed it away, knocking the vampire holding the extinguisher to the ground. Now Buffy saw the vampire with the ax. This she worried about. 

When he swung for her, she leaped in the air and did a backflip, landing on her feet on the top of the bar. The vampire swung at her legs. Buffy quickly jumped in the air, and stepped on the flat side of the ax with her left foot while the vampire was still swinging it. With her right foot, she stomped off the end of the axe handle. The vampire had lost his weapon. Buffy got her left foot under the ax and kicked it up into the air. Then she grabbed it with her two hands.

Buffy looked over her new weapon. The broken shaft was still 16 inches long. And now it was pointy at the bottom. Buffy twisted the ax handle up and down. "Beheading, staking, beheading, staking, beheading, staking" she said as she looked alternately at the metal blade and the wooden stake she was holding. "Any requests?," she asked the vampires assembled below. One of them grabbed her left ankle. Buffy stepped on his wrist with her right foot, pinning it to the bar. "No touching!," she yelled before she brought her ax down, cutting off the poor vampire's right arm just below the elbow. Buffy leaped over the vampires, did a flip, and landed with her feet back on the floor. It was time to finish the job.

She staked one vampire. Then beheaded the next. She kicked a third vamp away from her, then leaped in the air and hit a fourth vampire with a flying spin kick. On her way back to the ground, she beheaded yet another vampire.

A vampire butted her in the head. This made Buffy mad. She drove her ax down into the vampire's skull. Silly me, she thought, that's not the way to kill it. And she had difficulty pulling the ax out of his head. Meanwhile, the vampire with the extinguisher bashed Buffy in the head from behind. She went down. He hit her twice in the back. She turned over and looked up at him. He tried to bash her brains in. Buffy rolled out of the way. She swept the vampire's legs out from under him. Then she sprang to her feet and walloped the nearest vampire with a roundhouse kick.

Buffy turned back to the vampire with the ax in his head. She noticed he was missing the lower half of his right arm. All that chopping, and still he was standing. How wasteful, Buffy thought. "I apologize. Really. I've always prided myself on being a humane Slayer," Buffy told him as she yanked the ax out of his skull. "How bout I stop the pain, put you out of your misery?," she asked before she staked him.

Five vampires remained standing. One had a hole in his stomach. Three others were recovering from being impaled. Which left one uninjured vampire. He made a dash for the rear exit. Buffy leaped at him and kicked him in the back, knocking the vampire face-first into the wall. She then ripped off a table leg, threw the vampire onto the bar, and staked him.

The four remaining vampires were ailing but still pretty game. One of them tried to punch Buffy. While she blocked the punch, another vampire kicked her from behind. Another punched her in the stomach, and the fourth vampire punched her in the jaw. Two of them grabbed her, each holding an arm. The other two were about to wail on her when she shot her legs in the air. The two vampires trying to punch her covered their faces, anticipating her kicks. But she didn't kick them quite as they expected. Buffy shot her legs out to the side, and then brought them together in a scissors motion. She hit each vampire on the outside of the head, smashing their heads together.

When her feet hit the ground, Buffy backpedaled, driving herself and the two men who were holding her arms into a wall. This got her arms free. She grabbed a nicely splintered shaft of wood, and quickly did away with the four remaining vampires. She had just slayed 16 vampires in that bar, but she wasn't counting. Buffy looked around at the wreckage she had caused, took pride in a job well done, and strode out into the night. Then she pulled a stake out of her jacket pocket. She brought this stake from home, and had it with her in the bar. She just didn't bother to use it. That would have been too easy, too conventional.

A few minutes later, Clem entered. It looked like a bomb had gone off in the bar. Everything was broken. Ash and dust blanketed the floor. "Bede? Bede are you here?," he asked, as he looked for the benign demon who currently ran the place. He found Bede hiding on the ground behind the bar.

"Bede what happened? What monster did this?"

Bede stood up. "The Slayer," he told Clem.

"Buffy?," Clem uttered in astonishment as he surveyed the destruction.

Bede described her demeanor. "You know in the war movies when they talk about the 1,000 yard stare? Buffy had that stare. She looked mad."

"Mad as in angry?," Clem asked naively.

"Mad as in cuckoo," Bede responded.

Anya dragged Xander into the Bronze. "By the way Xander, you look very nice. Almost dashing."

"Anya, for the last time, what's going on? I have this queasy feeling, like you're leading me into an ambush."

"Xander, when your life falls apart, you need to go out and meet new people before you can pick up the pieces."

"My life hasn't fallen apart! I have a good life. A good job. Good friends. Why have you suddenly gone all motivational speaker on me? I don't need this."

"Stand up straight. Here, lemme fix your collar. There, perfect. Ooh, look! A friend."

Xander didn't see anyone he knew. But he followed Anya anyway. What else was he going to do?

"Xander I have someone for you to meet. This is my boyfriend Sterling. And this is Sterling's friend Elise. She's in Spike's band."

Xander realized what was happening. "Hello Elise, nice to meet you," Xander said, shaking her hand. She smiled nervously. Xander looked at Anya. "Anya, a word, alone." They walked off to talk.

"A blind date! You're setting me up on a blind date! Do you know how humiliating it is to be set up on a blind date by my ex-fiance!"

"Actually, it was Zooey's idea."

"Willow's friend! Was Willow in on this?"

"Not really. Sterling told me that Zooey told Elise you were cute and so Elise wanted to meet you. I don't see what the problem is. She's very attractive. Don't you think so?"

Xander glanced over his shoulder at Elise. "Well, yes, I suppose she's quite pleasant on the eyes. But that's not the point." Xander looked angry. Then he thought about what Anya had just said. "Zooey thinks I'm cute?," he asked as a smile came across his face.

"Sterling and Spike confirmed as much. Spike wasn't too happy about it."

Xander's smile grew bigger. Nothing like making Spike jealous to boost Xander's spirits. And Zooey was a babe. Too bad she was a lesbian. It seemed all the human women who were attracted to Xander were lesbians.

"That's flattering, but that's not the point," Xander told Anya, becoming serious again. "The point is, this is humiliating. You set up blind dates for your friends when they're complete losers or shut-ins. I don't need your help."

"Of course you don't," Anya condescended. "You've done such a good job of getting dates on your own."

Xander seethed. "Since when is that any of your business?"

"Since I found true love," Anya answered. The adjective true' seemed to imply that what she had felt for Xander was false love. "I've noticed how you go around carrying a torch for me, and it's getting a bit sad. I've moved on. You need to move on. You need to accept that you and I are over. You need to find someone new, someone who can love you." This sounded like another dig at Xander. Anya was still the master of guileless unintentional cruelty.

Xander had been wounded one time too many. "There it is. Your reason for bringing me here. You wanted vengeance? Congratulations, you just got it. My life is empty; yours is full. Happy? Is that what you wanted to hear?"

Anya hadn't done this for revenge. Problem was, her brutal honesty kept scuttling her good intentions. "That's not what I wanted, Xander. I'm over being mad. I was actually trying to do something nice. Taking you out to meet an attractive non-demon woman who wants to date you. How is that vengeance?"

Xander took a deep breath and thought about this. He wasn't sure if Anya's goal was vengeance, charity, or a mixture of the two. Of course, he didn't have anything better to do that night. And since when did Xander turn his back on a pretty girl? "You just should have been more upfront about this, Anya. You didn't have to surprise me. That was ambush dating. Nobody likes to be ambushed. But I guess you might have meant well." Xander then walked over to Elise.

"Hello there, nice to meet you, again. I know it may appear as if I was less than thrilled to meet you the first time around, but please, let me explain. I've never been on a blind date. In fact, I had no idea I was even going on date tonight until I saw you a couple minutes ago. Please don't feel offended. It was just the surprise of it all. Finding out my friends had set me up behind my back. Not that I mind, now that I'm here, with you."

"I'm sorry," Elise told Xander. "You're friends shouldn't have done that." Then she paused. Xander thought she meant she was sorry to be there with him. He felt like such a disappointment. But this was just a way for Elise to gauge Xander's interest in her. "I mean, I wouldn't want to get a date a guy who's only with me because he's been tricked."

"No, no, no. That's not why I'm here," Xander assured her.

"Yes it is," Elise slyly replied. "Guess your friends figured that was the only way they could get you to go out with me."

"I think you misheard me," Xander pleaded. He didn't realize he was being played. "It's not that I don't find you attractive. I do. And it's not that I wouldn't want to date you. I would. I mean, I do."

"Are you asking me out?," Elise cleverly replied.

"Well, I'd say it's a bit late for that," he joked.

"You're right. It's too late for me to say no." Xander looked worried. "I'm kidding," Elise added. "Let's go sit down and talk."

"Sitting, I'd like that. It means we've moved passed the awkward standing around part of the evening," Xander responded. They found a table and sat down.

Dawn was up in the balcony. When she saw Xander, she thought maybe they could hang out. But then she saw him with a woman. A new woman. It seemed everyone had someone. Everyone except Dawn, that is. She was so bored homework actually sounded interesting. So she headed home.

"They seem to be quite compatible," Anya said to Sterling about Xander and Elise.

"I think our work here is done," Sterling added.

"Good. Wanna go to my apartment?," Anya bluntly asked.

"So long as you go there with me," Sterling joked. He loved the way she cut to the chase. They headed out.

Two blocks to the north, Spike entered a bar. He saw the jukebox. It was quiet. He didn't want quiet. So he checked to see what albums the machine had. Graham Parker. This had promise, Spike thought. He chose the songs "Endless Night" and "Passion Is No Ordinary Word." As the music started, he scoped out the joint for women and found a few to his liking. As the adrenaline started pumping, it countered the effects of the alcohol. Staggering Spike became suave Spike.

He spotted one woman along the wall. Tall, thin, with curly brown hair. She was pulling out a cigarette. Perfect lead in. Spike came over with his zippo. As come-ons went, it was lame and cliched. But Spike was handsome enough to make it work. "Nice lighter," she told him after she exhaled.

"Thanks. I got it from a guy I killed." She laughed, thinking it was a joke.

"What's your name, killer?

"Spike. What's yours, love?"

"Marianne."

"Pleasure to make you acquaintance, Marianne." He took her right hand in his left and twirled her around, as if they were dancing. The jukebox played:

"I can't bear to see how it all looks in the light – keep it hidden now.

If I could only find a switch, that turns on the endless night."

Spike continued. "Marianne, I know this sounds sod awful unoriginal, but what's a gorgeous dame like yourself doing out all by yourself on a Saturday night?"

"Talking with my friends about how hard it is to meet a decent guy in this town."

"I'm anything but decent," Spike told her with a roguish grin.

"Thank god for that," she answered with a smile before she inhaled. "Think maybe I'll go tell my friends not to wait up for me. Don't go anywhere, killer."

Marianne walked away. Spike was happy. He liked this woman. Especially when she called him killer. "Endless Night" ended. As Spike listened to the opening guitar riff of "Passion Is No Ordinary Word," he gazed his eyes upon a shapely blond at the bar. He couldn't resist the opportunity.

He walked up next to her. Ordered bourbon. "And whatever the lady wants" he added, tossing the bartender a twenty. The woman gave Spike a dismissive look.

"I have a boyfriend," she told him.

"Don't worry, I won't hold that against you," he answered. Spike liked the challenge of poaching another guy's girl.

She laughed at Spike's bravado. "Oh please! What is it – you think you're God's gift to women or something?"

"God has nothing to do with my gifts."

"Buddy, here's some free advice. You're not a bad looking guy. Maybe if you didn't act like such a jerk, you wouldn't be all alone, desperately hitting on everything that moves. Think about that. Cause what you are right now is sad."

Just then her boyfriend walked up. He was a big, tall guy, considerably bigger than Spike. Well-built, but far from handsome. "Baby is there a problem?," he asked his girlfriend.

Spike couldn't resist. "No problem, sir. Your bird was just telling me to take a hike. I can see she's spoken for. Now that I see who's speaking for her, I kind of feel sorry for the lady. Word of advice, babe: you can probably do better than me; but you can certainly do a lot better than him."

The man punched Spike in the face. Spike was thrilled. This was just what he wanted. The man threw another right. Spike could see it coming from a mile away. He blocked the punch and hit the man in the face with a right jab. As Spike fought, his music played:

"Say, how it feels? Real useless, ain't it?

Wait until it bites right down inside you.

The world is easy when you're just playing around with it.

Everything's a thrill, and every girl's a kill.

And then it gets unreal, and then you don't feel anything."

The man threw a left hook. Spike ducked, hit the man in the stomach, then landed a right uppercut to his chin. The man looked injured and somewhat stunned. He didn't expect the scrawny blond boy to fight so well. Spike sensed triumph. He threw a right hook, a knockout blow. But he missed, and Spike began to stagger. Once again, he felt drunk. A half-liter of gin will do that to a man. His coordination was compromised. He threw a left cross. The man dodged it. Then he hit Spike with a right jab square on the jaw before hitting him in the right eye with a massive left hook. That blow knocked Spike to the ground.

Buffy heard footsteps in the woods. She approached stealthily. Two vampires. She moved a good distance in front of them and climbed up into a tree. When they were underneath her, she swooped down right in front of them.

"I don't have time for you Slayer," an scornful Ascher announced.

"You don't have much time left for anything," Buffy told him.

"Say hello to the nice Slayer," Ascher said to Olly before fleeing to Buffy's left. At the same time, Oliver fled to Buffy's right.

"Cowards!" Buffy yelled as she gave chase to Ascher, quickly grabbing him and throwing him to the ground. She took out her stake, and knelt down to stake Ascher while he was on his back. Ascher kicked her away and stood up. Buffy tried a right kick. He blocked it. She tried two rights and one left punch. He blocked these. Yet he didn't counter-attack. Buffy found that very annoying. She grabbed him and threw him back against a tree trunk. Ascher collected himself and approached Buffy. She landed a punch, he blocked a punch, she landed another punch. Ascher staggered backward. Buffy hit him in the face with a flying left kick. She pulled out her stake once again.

It was then that she felt something hit her in the back of her head. While she was focused on Ascher, Oliver had moved in behind Buffy, and had thrown a large stone at her. These guys were really getting on Buffy's nerves. She turned around to see who had beaned her. She saw Oliver about twenty feet away. Ascher picked up a large rock and bludgeoned Buffy from behind. She fell down. The two vampires ran away.

After a few seconds Buffy got up, picked up the fist-sized rock Oliver had hit her with, and gave chase. She really wanted to dust these creeps, these cowards who wouldn't even stand and fight. She ran up a hill after them. They dashed into a cave. Buffy hurled the rock at them. The rock seemed to "bounce" off the opening of the cave, and flew right back at Buffy. She ducked in the nick of time. The rock went clear through the trunk of a tree behind her. What happened to that tree could have happened to her head. That would have been an ignoble way to go – a Slayer dying by her own hand.

Buffy was understandably puzzled. She tried to walk into the cave, but couldn't. There was some sort of invisible barrier which kept her out but let the vampires in. Then Buffy heard noises from behind. She turned and saw four demons walking up the hill.

When they saw her, they made a run for the cave. She tripped one of them and kicked another in the back, knocking him down. A third demon charged her from the right. She punched him twice. The fourth demon came at her from the left, kicked her in the stomach and threw her to the ground. All four demons sprinted for the cave entrance. Buffy rose and gave chase. She was about grab one of them when she was stopped in her tracks by the barrier. One of the demons turned around and moved to within a foot of Buffy. "Sorry Slayer, but you're not invited." The demons laughed and then disappeared into the dark cave.

Buffy waited for about thirty minutes, just in case something came out of the cave. But it was getting late, and it had been a long day. Buffy was tired, physically and emotionally. She headed home for the night. Dawn was asleep. Willow was up studying. Buffy asked Willow to try to find out what she could about forcefields which let in demons but kept out people.

That reminded Buffy of Anya, who of course was a demon. She could get Anya to go in the cave and see what was going on. She called Anya's apartment. Anya was busy with Sterling. She shot her arm out and knocked the phone out of its cradle and onto the floor.

"Hello? Hello? Anya are you there? Anya? Hello? Hello? Anya?," Buffy said after Anya "answered" the phone. Buffy heard loud noises in the background. Fortunately, she hung up before she could figure what she was listening to.

Xander and Elise walked out of the Bronze. "Xander, you're a really nice guy, and you're really sweet - "

"Oh great, here it comes," Xander interjected.

"Here what comes?," Elise asked.

"I've heard the speech before. The You're a nice guy' prelude to a rejection."

"Actually it was the prelude to me asking you out tomorrow night."

"Have I told you how much I love it when you surprise me?," Xander joked. "You, me, tomorrow? Absolutely. I had a great time tonight, Elise."

"Me too. Here's my number."

Xander gave her his number. Midway through the evening he had scribbled it down in a moment of optimism.

"Thanks," Elise said. "I'll be sure to give you a call." She gave him a brief kiss on the lips and went to her car. Xander went to his car. He sat there for a moment, thinking about what had just happened. It had been a good night for him. He no longer felt so alone.

Xander's phone rang around sunrise. Elise was certainly eager, Xander thought. "So you missed me already?," he said as he answered.

"Xander, can you do me a favor?," Buffy asked.

"Oh, it's just you," Xander responded indolently.

"You're certainly a grumpy bear this morning."

"Sorry, I just hoping you were someone else. Someone I wanted to hear from."

Xander blowing off Buffy? This was new and unprecedented. "Xander, can you look out your window and see if pigs are flying?"

"Buffy, are you okay? Maybe you need some rest."

"Just a joke. See, I always figured hell would freeze over before you didn't want to hear from me."

"Oh. Oooh. That's funny. Sorry, it's Sunday, it's very early, and I mistook you for a girl who wants to date me. Wow! 6:30! It's hyper-early. Is the world going to end?"

"Not sure. In this town, there's always a chance. That's kind of where you come in. I need you to get Anya and bring her to the water tower. I'll explain when you two get there. Let's just say that right now Anya she's the only one who can help me."

Naturally, Xander assumed the worse. As a good soldier who trusted Buffy completely, he threw on some clothes and went to Anya's. Her door was unlocked. Xander burst in. "Anya there's an emergency and aigghhh!" Xander saw Anya in bed with Sterling. He turned his head away and covered his eyes.

"Ever hear of knocking?," Anya scowled at Xander.

Xander turned his head to face Anya, but still tried to shield his eyes with one hand. "Buffy has a work-related emergency. She said you were the only one who could help. And you know how Buffy is, when she has a problem she thinks it's the end of the world." He couldn't say more in the presence of a non-Scooby like Sterling.

"Fine. But this better be important," Anya said. She rose to get dressed. Then she stopped. "Xander, do you mind?"

Xander dutifully turned around while Anya got dressed. If he hadn't, Sterling probably would have had a lot of questions for Anya. "Sterl, honey, this will only take a minute. I'll be right back. Don't you dare go anywhere, stallion." She kissed him. He didn't seem to want to let go of her. She didn't seem to want to let go of him. Xander averted his eyes from this display of affection. Seeing his ex-fiance in bed with her studly new boyfriend: it was back to humiliation for Xander. Finally, Anya separated her lips from Sterling's and walked out. She turned around at the door. "Stay right where you are. Your love bunny will be back in no time." Xander cringed.

"Love bunny? Love bunny! I thought you were scared of bunnies?," Xander asked Anya in the hall.

"Sterling's helped me to get over my fears. Sterling's helped me to get over a lot of things." That dig was intentional. They got in Xander's car.

"This really better be the end of the world! What's going on, anyway?," Anya asked Xander as he drove.

"Buffy wasn't too specific. All she said was only you could help. Look, I'm not happy about this either. You think this is fun for me?"

"I understand. You, catching me copulating with another man. Again. It's becoming quite a disturbing pattern. By the way, how did the date go last night?"

"It was great, actually. Elise is great. We're going out again tonight."

"Your welcome," Anya responded.

"Excuse me?"

"Well, gee, I was the one who brought you there. So I thought a little thanks might be in order."

"What, I'm supposed to thank you for not telling me? It's not like you were the one who set us up. If I had to thank anyone, it would have to be Zooey." Xander wouldn't mind thanking Zooey. He wouldn't mind anything involving Zooey. "All you had to do was tell me what was going on: Xander, there's a girl who would like to meet you' Would that have been so hard?"

"I was afraid you'd get scared and chicken out."

"Since when have I been scared of women who wanted to date me? Even when they were life-sucking mummies or giant insects."

"Willow told be about the praying mantis. Rather adorable, the whole virgin sacrifice thing. Not to mention the hot-for-teacher subtext. Like Van Halen and Stravinsky rolled into one." Xander didn't quite get the reference to Stravinsky's "Rite Of Spring," which was about an ancient Russian virgin sacrifice ceremony. As an ancient pagan, Anya had actually seen the real thing.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't be such a grumpy bear. It's early, I'm cranky, I walk in on my ex-fiance with another man. So I'm a wee bit frazzled at the moment. I am glad you took me to the Bronze. I had fun last night. Probably not as much fun as you had, but you were right. I needed to get out and meet new people."

As she rode in the car, Anya could feel something. It was vengeance. An extremely powerful thirst for vengeance. And she sensed that she was moving towards the source.

Xander and Anya met Buffy at the water tower. She took then to the cave, which was about 200 yards away. "Xander, would you like to walk with me into the cave?," Buffy asked. Xander didn't see why not. Then he hit the forcefield. Xander was a bit surprised. Buffy picked up a stick and gently tossed it into the cave. It bounced off the invisible barrier.

"Six demons fled from me into this cave last night. It looks like only demons are able to enter. I'd like to know what's going on in there. Anya, your demonness, care to walk in and tell me?"

"Okay Buffy. First, can I talk to you alone? Over there? In private? Girl stuff."

Not quite knowing what was going on, Buffy walked with Anya. When they were a safe distance away from Xander, Anya began. "Buffy, what's wrong?"

"The anti-demon forcefield. You saw it."

"I mean, what's wrong with you. Don't think you can hide it. You're giving off signals a vengeance demon could pick up from a thousand miles away. As vengeance levels go, you're off the charts. Is it Spike? It has to be. He must have done something very bad to you."

"It's over. We're over. That's it. End of story. Not like I really cared for him anyway."

"Buffy, you can't hide it from me. I feel what you're going through. It's painful. Like a volcano of rage just waiting to blow its top. To hurt that much means you must have loved him. I know what it's like. If you need someone to talk to, I'm here for you."

"I wish - "

"Hold on Buffy. Before you make any wishes, you should think it through. I'm not saying you don't deserve vengeance. You do. And I'll give it to you, as long as it's reasonable and doesn't alter the time-space continuum."

Buffy rolled her eyes. "I wish you'd leave me alone. I'm just not ready to talk about it. Go check out the cave."

"Sure, of course, sorry. By the way, if you do want to talk, I won't be available today. Lemme just check out this cave and get back to bed."

"Yeah, you probably want to get back to sleep," Buffy told Anya.

Anya was about say she wasn't going to bed for sleep, but for once she knew candor would be inappropriate. She didn't want to say anything to upset vengeful, emotionally-wounded, super-powered Buffy. Anya walked through the cave opening. The morning sun shone into the cavern, so she could see what was there. There was nothing there. No demons. It was small and empty. She realized there was a hidden door in a section of the walls. She could sense it. It felt like a dimensional portal. She reached her hand out to touch it. Her arm straight through it. It wasn't a portal. It was just a door to an adjacent room.

She walked through. In the center of the room was a four-wheeled cart. At the front of the cart was a yoke, connected to the front axle by a very large knot. Anya tried to touch the cart. She couldn't. Some sort of forcefield protected it. She ran her hand along the outside of the cart, trying to figure out what it was, and what was protecting it. Anya noticed there were gradations in the strength of the field. It seemed to emanate from a focal point centered at that knot. There didn't seem to be any more hidden doors or portals. Anya believed she had seen all there was, and walked out.

"What'd you find?," Buffy asked eagerly.

"Very interesting. Not quite worth dragging me out of bed, but definitely not like anything I've seen before."

"Any idea what's causing the forcefield?," Buffy wondered.

"Whatever it is, it's not from this world. And it's not being done by a demon. It's some sort of higher – or lower – power. Something major. Inside the cave there's a secret door. Actually, it might be a door and/or portal. The door led to another room in the cave. In that room there's a cart. The cart's protected by some otherworldly forcefield emanating from the knot connecting the cart to the yoke. Your demons were missing. Maybe they were taken by that door-slash-portal into another dimension."

"Any clue why this suddenly appeared?"

"I don't know. Maybe it's a puzzle. The gods like to play games. It's definitely not the end of the world."

Buffy went home to tell Willow what Anya had found. Xander dropped Anya off, then headed home and went back to sleep. Anya entered her apartment to find Sterling dressed. "Why aren't you naked? What are those clothes doing on you? Get out of them now!"

"I thought you were busy, so I was going to leave."

"No your not. We have 25 hours and 32 minutes until you leave town, and until then you're not setting foot out of this apartment."

"What about your store?"

"It's Sunday. It's a day of rest. No one will notice. Now march yourself back to the bed and lose those clothes, pronto."

"I'm not the sort of man who likes to argue with beautiful women," Sterling said as he did what he was told. Anya ripped out the phone plug from the wall, just in case Buffy tried to call. Then she locked her door and pushed the dresser in front of it, just in case Buffy or anyone else tried to get in.

Spike woke up. His clock read 10:30. But what day was it? He flipped on the television. Some sort of religious service was on. So it was Sunday. One day before the tour. But what happened Saturday? Spike didn't know. All he knew was that he was very hungover and his face hurt. He looked in the mirror and saw a bruise under his right eye. He wasn't sure how he got that bruise.

After he showered he went over to Buffy's and entered the foyer. Buffy was in the dining room. She heard the door open and walked into the hallway. "What the hell are you doing here? You got a lot of nerve coming back. Willow told me what you did."

Looking at Buffy and hearing Willow's name triggered Spike's memories. In a matter of seconds, it all came flooding back. He realized he was doomed. "The biggest mistake you ever made was thinking you could trust me. You thought I could be good. You thought I had something to offer you besides pain. Well sorry. You were wrong. I can never be what you need. I could never make you happy. Goodbye Buffy. You're finally free of me."

Spike turned and left. Buffy was furious. But he was gone before she had the chance to tear into him. At that moment, Buffy didn't just feel angry. She also felt lonely.

After stumbling through the portal, the two vampires and four demons found themselves in an expanse of darkness. They realized they had leaped into another dimension. They could make out a very faint light in the distance, and walked towards it. They walked in the dark for many hours. During this time, they got to know each other. Mostly, they confirmed what each of them already suspected: they were all in search of the same object, and had all been drawn to that cave from hundreds and even thousands of miles away.

The four demons were each of a different species. They met for the first time a week ago in Vegas, and quickly realized they were heading off on the same quest. The strongest and smartest of them, a tall demon named Yagos with small horns which shot out horizontally from his temples, became their leader. He had taught them how to work together to escape the Slayer.

Finally, they reached a wall where there were six lit torches. Each of them took a torch. They heard the rumblings of an approaching monster. It was a six-headed hydra. Each of them had brought along a cutting implement – a short sword, a dagger, or an ax. But these weapons seemed miniscule compared to this mighty beast. At first each demon attacked one of the monster's heads. Yagos used his ax to cut off a head. It grew right back.

Ascher had anticipated this. He also realized they couldn't kill the monster with brute force alone. He ordered Oliver and one of the demons to go round behind the hydra. Its heads could not turn all the way around, and this meant the hydra was vulnerable if simultaneously attacked from in front and behind. All of them had noticed that the fire on their torches helped keep the hydra heads at bay. Ascher remembered the story about Heracles slaying the hydra by cutting of each head and then cauterizing the wound to keep the head from growing back. That seemed too time consuming. He thought of an easier way.

The hydra was angry about being stabbed in its tail and back. It tried ever harder to kill the four demons in front of it. When it swooped one of its heads down to eat Ascher, he grabbed onto its neck. The hydra raised its neck back up. Ascher hung on for the ride. Then Ascher threw his torch into the hydra's mouth and down its throat. He then let go and dropped back to the ground.

Just like Ascher had hoped, the hydra was slowly burning from the inside. As this weakened the beast, three of the other demons cut off three of the other heads and threw their torches down the beast's throats. Those heads grew back, but the heat intensified. As the Hydra roasted, the demons and vampires gleefully hacked away until the creature was dead and mutilated. They walked on towards the light source, and soon found themselves back in the cave, in the inner room. And there was the object they had been searching for.

Anya had provided ample information for Willow to use as a starting for her research. Early in the process, Dawn blurted out "I bet Spike knows what it is." Willow and Buffy glared at her. "Okay. I get it. Spike's a jerk again. Fine with me. Just tell me what the party line is each week, and I'll follow it. No problem."

A few hours later Willow had good news for Buffy. "I think I found your magical mystery cart. This book talks about something called the Lodestone of Arete. You cut the knot, you get the stone, you become some sort of Demon King. It doesn't say what that means. All it says is the stone makes the demon very powerful and causes other demons to flock to its side."

"So it's like that invincibility decoder ring?"

"It's sounds a lot different from the Gem of Amara. First of all, it's not just for vampires. Demons can also use it. And there's nothing in here about invincibility. Though they do use the word unstoppable a few times."

"Invincible, unstoppable, same thing."

"I don't this it's not that simple. The two ideas – super power, leader of demons – are always mentioned together. It seems that is the power. Like a positive feedback loop. You get powerful, this causes some demons to follow you, which makes you more powerful, which causes more demons to flock to you. It's a snowball effect."

"So if someone gets this we nip it in the bud," Buffy proposed. "Two vampires, four demons, we can take them down, no sweat. It just sucks that I can't get in there."

Dawn had an idea. "Clem could get in there. He's a demon, so he could get in there, right?"

"He can't take down all those guys by himself."

"But he could help us figure out what's going on, with the portal and all."

Buffy figured it was worth a shot. No matter what happened, the vampires weren't leaving the cave until nightfall. She had to find something to do before then, something that could help her figure out what she would be facing.

Dawn went to Clem's crypt, formerly Spike's crypt. He was glad to see her. "Clem, Buffy wants to see you."

He was not happy to hear this. Not after what Bede had told him. "Uh, Dawn, did she happen to mention why? She's not mad at me, is she?"

"Why would she be mad at you?"

Clem gulped. He worried he was sounding guilty. "No reason."

"She wants your help. I'll take you to her."

"How has Buffy been lately? Is she doing alright? Does she have a death wish? Oops. Golly me. I don't know where that came from."

"She's been better. She's also been a lot worse. Why do you think she has a death wish? Maybe she used to have a death wish. But she's over that."

When Clem saw Buffy at the cave, he was nervous. But she looked normal. She certainly didn't look like she had lost the ability to distinguish between friendly demons and evil demons. Now he was less scared of Buffy, but more scared of going into the cave. After all, he didn't want six demons ganging up on him. Plus, the threat of being sucked through a trans-dimensional portal was something he did not take lightly. But finally he decided to enter. After all, that's what Buffy told him to do, and he didn't want to make Buffy mad.

He walked through the cave entrance, looked around, and then walked back out a twenty seconds later. "That was it? That's all you'll do?," Buffy asked, dismayed by Clem's apparent cowardice.

"That's all I need to do. The forcefield isn't there to protect demons. It's there to protect humans. Protect them by keeping them out. It's a trap. A trick. But it's definitely not the end of the world."

"Are you saying nothing will happen if one of the demons gets the Arete?"

"No. If one of them gets the stone, bad things will happen. But it's not the end of the world. You'll defeat them, Buffy. They'll be dead by the end of the night. Only question is how many innocent people they take with them. Maybe a few dozen, maybe a few hundred. Like I said, definitely not the end of the world." Clem calmly walked away. He was highly sensitive to trans-dimensional energies, far more sensitive than Anya. But her, Clem realized someone was playing a game. And a fun, witty game at that.


	3. Coming Together, Falling Apart

The Scoobies help Buffy fight a potentially invincible vampire and his demon followers. In the process, Dawn gets hit on by a cute blonde vampire who reminds her of someone. Speaking of Blondie Bear, Spike finds that even though he's human, he can still get down with his Big Bad self.  
  
Buffy, Willow and Dawn were back home figuring out what to do. Four demons, two vampires. And one of them could be really, really powerful. Nothing Buffy couldn't handle. But it did present a challenge.  
  
"I wish Steven were here," Dawn blurted out.  
  
Buffy got mad. "We don't need him! I don't need any help."  
  
Dawn explained. "No Buffy, I wasn't saying that. You're the best, we all know that. But if you're busy fighting the super-powered demon, who's gonna take care of the other five?"  
  
"We've gotten by without help before," Buffy explained. "We don't need men to watch our backs. Angel, Riley, Connor - they come and go, we get the job done with or without them. What do we need men for?"  
  
"What about Xander?," Willow asked.  
  
"Yes, we need Xander," Buffy conceded. "When I said we don't need men, I wasn't talking about Xander. He's not a guy. He's better than that." This reminded Buffy to call Xander and tell him to get ready for another mission. For the first time, he turned her down.  
  
"I'm sorry Buffy. I have plans. I have a date."  
  
"A date's more important than saving the world from the forces of darkness?"  
  
"We do that all the time. You know how long it's been since I've had a date? I'm sorry, but it's not like I'd really be that much help. I'll swing by afterwards. Say, could you put Willow on?"  
  
Buffy gave the phone to Willow. "Really? It went that well. Wow! Xander, that's great. I'm so happy for you. Yeah, Zooey had a feeling about you two. I'll tell her the good news."  
  
Buffy asked to be put back on. "Xander, if you're not gonna be part of the team tonight, could you at least get a hold of Anya? She's not answering her phone."  
  
"Maybe she doesn't want to be reached," Xander replied.  
  
"Why? Is something wrong?"  
  
Xander groaned. Buffy seemed really thick today. "She's with her boyfriend. She doesn't want to be disturbed. You get my drift?"  
  
Buffy got his drift. Anya's boyfriend was just another man making things difficult for her. She asked Willow who Xander's new girlfriend was. She didn't like the answer. Anya with Spike's drummer. Xander with Spike's piano player. Spike was still managing to annoy her.  
  
On his way home from Buffy's, Spike was deluged by pain. He couldn't live with himself. He couldn't live with the memories of the pain he inflicted on others. But a few hours later, he found a way out. He was still a monster. He just had to learn to accept it. It seemed so easy, so seductive, so perfect. Embrace the badness, and be liberated.  
  
It was like a drug. The euphoria, the absence of torment and self- flagellation. This was who he was. This was who he always was. Trying to be good not only hurt himself; it hurt the people he cared about. Spike got out his long leather coat, his trophy for slaying a Slayer. Spike was back, and he was going to have some fun. And then tomorrow morning he would be gone. Away from the source of his suffering and the prime victim of his malice: Buffy. He couldn't undo the damage. But he could do his best to start over. Black t-shirt, black jeans, black steel-toed boots, floor- length black leather coat. It felt good to be himself again.  
  
It was nighttime. Buffy, Willow and Dawn were staking out the cave. Buffy had been doing some thinking. "Willow, can you be a lesbian if you don't want to have sex with women? I mean, is man-hating enough?"  
  
"Buffy, maybe I'm going to regret saying this, but why the heck are you asking me that?"  
  
"I've had an epiphany. One I should have had long ago. Men bad. Men very bad. I realize that now. I want nothing more to do with them. So, it got me thinking, where do I go from there?"  
  
"Not where you think you want to. Buffy, I think your logic is deeply flawed."  
  
"No it's not. I've had it with men. They're all dogs. Mangy, flea-ridden, foaming-at-the-mouth dogs."  
  
"What about Xander?," Dawn asked.  
  
"Xander doesn't count," Buffy replied. "Xander's never counted. He transcends sex. He's sexless." Willow and Dawn found this conception of eunuch Xander rather disgusting, not to mention completely ludicrous. Buffy continued. "I'm saying goodbye to guyville. And I don't see the point in half-hearted measures. If I leave one team, I should join the other."  
  
"Why does everyone think being a lesbian is all about man-hating!," Willow interjected. "It has nothing to do with hating men. It's about loving women. You don't love women. Do you, Buffy?" This was something Willow never thought she'd ask Buffy. It had been a frightening weekend. Dawn was beginning to realize how frightening.  
  
"No. Not yet. Not in that way. But that doesn't mean I won't. Willow, when you were in high school, you had no idea you were gay. You can never tell with these kinds of things."  
  
"Sometimes you can. Trust me Buffy, you're not a lesbian. For the love of Hecate, did I just say that?"  
  
"What, you don't think women would find me attractive? Don't you find me attractive?" Willow said nothing. She knew there was no good answer to that question.  
  
"I am ending this conversation and repressing all memories of it ever taking place," Willow declared.  
  
"Believe me, I'm way ahead of you," Dawn added in agreement.  
  
But Buffy continued "It's simple. I refuse to let men hurt me anymore. So I have three options: lesbian, nun, Vengeance Demon."  
  
"What about none of the above?," Willow suggested. "What about finding a good man?"  
  
Buffy laughed. "You cannot be serious! Just look around you. Every guy I loved, every guy you loved, every guy Anya's loved, has hurt us. That's what men do. They always hurt you in the end. Love them, and they make you pay for it. Tell me when that hasn't been the case with us?"  
  
"Not all men are like that," Dawn told Buffy. "Steven's not like that."  
  
"Of course. 'My man's different. My man's special. He's not like all the others.' Everybody thinks that. He'll go bad. It's in his nature. Don't say I didn't warn you."  
  
"Why! Because his father went bad?"  
  
"No. Because he's a man. They all wander. No matter how much you love them. They betray you. They abandon you. In the end, they always leave you."  
  
Inside the cave, the demons looked intently at the knot from every angle. After much preparation, they each took a swing. Yagos went first. He swung his ax with all his might. Nothing. The other three demons each hacked at a different spot in the knot. Nothing. The harder they swung, the tighter the knot became. Instead of cutting downward, Oliver tried to cut through the knot the way one slices through a steak. Nothing.  
  
Ascher knew Oliver was onto something. Finesse was the answer. He carefully eyed every strand of sinew. The he reached underneath the knot and with the tip of his dagger caught hold of a single strand. He gently snapped that strand. The knot slowly unraveled. And there it was. The Arete Stone. He caught it in his hand. The glory was his.  
  
Inside the cart appeared a silver diadem. Ascher put it on his head, crowning himself. He stuck the stone into a hole in the center of the diadem. He could feel himself changing. Now he could take on anything. And the other demons knew it too.  
  
As Spike's memories came back, he remembered the man who punched him out. After much wandering, he found this man at the door of one of a nightclub. He actually was a bouncer. Spike ached for revenge. But he was patient. He knew how to bide his time out on the hunt.  
  
At midnight, the club closed. The bouncer walked towards his car. Spike stood next to it. He pulled out a switchblade and stuck it into one of the tires. The bouncer recognized Spike. "What's you problem? You like getting your face bashed in?"  
  
"I like second chances. Care to give me one?," Spike asked as he walked up to the bouncer. He no longer had super powers. But he did have experience. He knew a thing or two about fighting. Enough to take down this meathead. Spike saw him prepare to throw a punch. When the bouncer pulled his right fist back, Spike shot the tips of the fingers on his right hand into the man's throat before he could unload. The bouncer put both hands to his throat as he struggled for air. Spike hit him in the nose with two left jabs. He liked being in control.  
  
"So much for standing up for your girl," Spike taunted as he circled the wounded and bleeding man. The bouncer threw a left cross. Spike dodged it. Then he landed a right jab, left cross and right uppercut to the bouncer's face. He fell to the ground. Spike put his right foot on the man's neck and pressed down hard, choking the man into submission. "Right now, you can't even stand up." He looked over his shoulder. Two large men were approaching him. Must be this guy's friends. Spike loved a challenge.  
  
"Would you two wankers care to join your mate?" One was to his left, the other to his right. The one to his right threw a right cross. Spike swerved to his right and hit the guy's nose with a left jab. The other guy tried to blindside Spike. He pivoted round and hit this attacker in the stomach with a right roundhouse kick. He grabbed this man's head and hit it with his knee. The other attacker charged from behind, and Spike popped him with a right elbow . Then he gave the man in front of him a quick left hook, knocking him down. Spike spun around to face his other opponent. There was a right jab headed straight for Spike's nose. He turned his head to the side, and took the blow on his left temple. The man threw a left cross. Spike grabbed his left wrist, pulled the man's arm back, took hold of his left pinky, snapped it back and broke it. The man grunted loudly in pain. Spike loved it.  
  
The other man rose and charged Spike. He pushed the fighter with the broken pinky into the man who was charging him. They both fell down. While they were down Spike kicked each of them a few times in the ribs and spine. Then he put his boot through each of their mouths. Perhaps they'd have dental work to remember Spike by. He looked over his handiwork. Three men down. Hardly a scratch on him. Not bad.  
  
Then Spike saw her. The blonde he hit on the previous night. The bouncer's girlfriend. "Hello cutie," Spike tremulously announced. He walked towards her. She looked scared. He frightened her. Spike liked that. He strolled right past her and headed off into the night. his coat flapping in the breeze.  
  
"Anya, what's your history with Xander?," Sterling asked as they sat on the bed and ate dinner.  
  
"He's just a friend from high school."  
  
"Did you two ever go out? I just sensed something when you were with him last night, and then when he came here this morning."  
  
Anya decided it was time to come clean. "It was nothing, really I dated Xander for a couple years. We were going to get married. He left me at the altar. That's all."  
  
This was more than Sterling had imagined. "Wow. I'm so sorry."  
  
"Don't feel sorry for me. I'm over it."  
  
"No. Not you. I feel sorry for him. He had the perfect woman, and he let her go."  
  
"Oh, stop it Sterl. I'm hardly perfect."  
  
"Perhaps. But you are extraordinary."  
  
"Well, if you say so," Anya responded. After all, she was extraordinary in ways Sterling couldn't possibly imagine.  
  
"I didn't realize you were three years older that me," Xander told Elise as they walked along the sidewalk. "Lucky for you, I prefer older women." Elise was tall and thin, with long, straight black hair and bright blue eyes.  
  
"It wasn't my intention to rob the cradle. You just seemed much more mature than any other 22 year-old guy I've met. Most men your age, they act like boys."  
  
"One of the benefits of not going to college, I guess. Speaking of which, you went to college. You have a job. No offense, but why do you play in Spike's band?"  
  
"Guess it's cause I'm still young enough to pretend I'm young. That's why most anyone's in a band. Getting on stage is like dipping into the Fountain of Youth. Once you leave that behind, you become just another boring adult."  
  
"No Elise. I wasn't asking why you were in a band. I was asking why you were in Spike's band. Why Spike?"  
  
"He's exciting, in an intense and occasionally frightening way. Spike's truly one-of-a-kind. None of us in the band knows exactly why, but we all sense this about him. Granted, in some ways he's like any other wanna-be rock star. He's so totally in it for the whole Fountain of Youth thing. We don't even know his age. He acts like he's 18 going on 38."  
  
"Spike's very touchy about his age," Xander commented drolly. "He's been 20 for at least a decade. Me and him, we sometimes end up hanging out with the same crowd. But we're not exactly friends."  
  
"I got that idea. He gets touchy when your name's mentioned. I think he's jealous of you, Xander. Maybe because you're so much more mature."  
  
Xander relished the unearned praise received at Spike's expense. For the moment, he forgot that he was so "mature" that he left a woman he loved at the altar. Instead, Xander decided to go for broke. "I always thought he was jealous of my rugged masculine good looks."  
  
"Well if he's not, he should be," Elise responded with a smirk. Then she kissed him.  
  
"So this is it," Xander commented bittersweetly. "I just met you last night, and tomorrow you'll be gone."  
  
"I'll be back in two weeks. Aren't I worth waiting for?," Elise asked.  
  
"Definitely. Course that doesn't mean I'll enjoy the waiting."  
  
"If it's any consolation, I won't enjoy it either," Elise offered. "Here's something to remind you what you're missing." She kissed him again.  
  
"Buffy, did you feel the earth move?," Willow asked.  
  
"No. Why?"  
  
"No reason. Maybe it was just my knees buckling. Which they did when I saw that red flash come out of the cave. I think they got the stone."  
  
"Bout time. I was getting sick of waiting," Buffy declared.  
  
"Buffy, any ideas?," a nervous Dawn asked.  
  
Inside the cave the demons were giddy  
  
"What would you like to do," Yagos asked.  
  
"Time to take down the Slayer," Ascher bellowed.  
  
"I think you're getting ahead of yourself, master" Yagos respectfully dissented. "Perhaps you should use your newfound power to raise an army before crushing our enemy."  
  
Ascher disagreed. "I already have my army."  
  
"Well. Thank you, Master." Yagos replied. We feel honored by your complement." The other demons nodded in agreement, clearly in Ascher's thrall.  
  
Buffy, Dawn and Willow had the disadvantage of not knowing what to expect. Though ignorant, Buffy still had to be decisive. "Here's the plan. When they come out, we go after the one with the stone. Triple-team him, try to take him out before the others can help."  
  
"And if that doesn't work?," Willow wondered nervously.  
  
"We split them up," Buffy answered. "I draw Stone Demon away, take him one- on-one."  
  
"And me and Willow face the other five? What the hell kind of a plan is that!?," Dawn sensibly whined.  
  
"You don't fight them. You lure them, you distract them. Each of you goes a different way. Neither of you goes where I go. The other demons won't want to leave their leader. They'll be drawn to the Arete. But at the same time they won't want to turn their backs on you. They'll be confused. Too confused to attack you. Before long, they'll run back to their leader. With any luck, I'll have killed him by then."  
  
"So we're being used as bait," Willow grimly concluded.  
  
"Willow, remember what you told me about the Arete? The demon who has it is only as strong as the demons around him. All-for-one and one-for-all. We stick together, they stick together, they remain strong. We split up, they split up, they're weakened. I'm only doing this because I have confidence in you. Dawn, Willow, you're fighters. You can more than hold your own. I believe in you guys."  
  
What were Willow and Dawn to say to that? If they opposed Buffy's plan, they'd be opposing their own abilities and letting Buffy down. Ascher left the cave's inner room and entered the outer room. The other five followed. Ascher burst out into the night a few steps ahead of the rest, who were behind him and to his left and right. The six of them formed a rough triangle with Ascher at its apex. Outside the cave, Buffy stood with Willow and Dawn behind her, Dawn to her left and Willow to her right. So they also formed a triangle. A smaller, less imposing triangle.  
  
"You got the guy with the crown?," Willow asked Buffy.  
  
"Guess so," Buffy answered. She charged him. Willow and Dawn quickly followed. Ascher focused on Buffy. After all, she was the Slayer. They exchanged punches, blocking each other's first few blows. Ascher landed one punch. Buffy landed two. Dawn swung a flail above her head a few times and then struck Ascher in the hip. (Connor had taught her of the charms of this bludgeoning instrument.) Ascher winced at the blow. Buffy landed a kick to his face. Willow raised her ax and swung for his neck. Ascher was too busy with Buffy and Dawn to even notice Willow.  
  
But Oliver came to his aid in the nick of time. He tackled Willow. The four demons focused on Dawn. By swinging her flail around, she kept them at for a few seconds. Oliver saw this and dove at Dawn from behind. Before Oliver could strike Dawn, Buffy turned to her left and kicked Oliver in the face. Ascher took advantage of Buffy's distraction to kick her in the chest and punch her in the chin. Buffy fell down, but quickly got up and fled to the right. Ascher gave chase.  
  
When Dawn saw Buffy bolt, she raced down the hill. Oliver pursued her. Willow found herself alone with the four demons. "Why am I the only one who gets outnumbered? It's not fair," she muttered. Then she ran as fast as she could to her left.  
  
After they finished kissing, Xander and Elise parted ways. Xander felt on top of the world as he drove home. But shortly before he reached his apartment building, he remembered something. Buffy was in trouble! He couldn't believe that he almost completely forgotten about Buffy. He slammed on the brakes, made a U-turn, screeched his tires as he accelerated, and raced to the water tower.  
  
After about 200 yards of retreating, Buffy stopped to face Ascher. "Scared, Slayer?," he taunted.  
  
"Not as scared as you are. Least I have the guts to fight you alone. Your pal's not here to bail you out this time." She attacked him, landed a few kicks, punched him a few times and took control of the fight. After a flying kick she went for the stake. When it was a few inches from his chest, Ascher grabbed it with both hands. Buffy held the stake in her left hand. With her right hand she reached up and grabbed Ascher's diadem. She pulled with all her might. It wouldn't budge.  
  
Ascher laughed. "It's where it belongs," he told Buffy. Then he head-butted her, went bumpy and sent her reeling with a massive left hook which revealed how much more powerful the Arete Stone made him. Buffy got up, put her stake away, and picked up a nearby rock. She kicked him in the ribs, punched him in the stomach, and with her right and smashed the rock into the Arete stone with enough force to crack a skull as if it were an egg. If the blow didn't smash his skull, at the very least it should have crushed the Arete Stone, Ascher's power center. Destroying the enemy's power center had always worked in the past. But this time, it did nothing. Ascher didn't even look phased. He punched Buffy in the chin with a right uppercut. She flew back 15 feet and slammed into a tree trunk.  
  
"Can't pull it off. Can't break it. What do you do now?"  
  
"Easy. I kill you." Buffy answered, sorer but wiser.  
  
When Dawn got too tired to sprint away from Oliver she stopped and stood her ground. She brandished her flail.  
  
"You know what the problem is with flails?," Oliver asked as he picked up a thick tree branch. When she swung for him, he blocked the flail head with the branch. Its spikes stuck into the wood, and Oliver pulled the weapon out of Dawn's hand. "That's the problem," he told Dawn and he tossed his tree branch and her weapon to the side.  
  
Dawn pulled out a sword. "What's with the arsenal, pet?," Oliver asked as he danced around to elude the sword. Dawn swung twice. He dodged both blows. "Afraid of me?I like that in a girl." When she swung again, he moved to the side. He kicked Dawn in the hands, knocking the sword into the air. Then he kicked her in the chest, knocking her to the ground. After all this, Oliver was still able to catch the sword in midair. He broke it across his knee and threw the broken pieces behind him. "Bloody awful piece of crap, I must say. Wouldn't you agree, love?"  
  
Dawn realized there was something familiar about this vampire. His blonde hair. The way he talked. His swagger. His attempted menace. He was like Spike, only shorter. And not gorgeous. Definitely cute, but not gorgeous. Oliver moved in for the kill. "She can't protect you now."  
  
"I don't need Buffy to protect me!," Dawn shouted. She threw a right punch. Oliver blocked it and hit her in the face. Then he grabbed Dawn and threw her to the ground.  
  
"I bet the Slayer disagrees with with you on that," Oliver said as he kicked Dawn in the ribs. She rolled away and got up. "I bet she thinks you're nothing but a helpless little girl."  
  
"Little? I'm bigger than she is," Dawn answered. Oliver charged her. She grabbed his right arm and threw him over her shoulder. Then she pulled out her stake. When she reached down to stake him, Oliver kicked her away and vaulted to his feet.  
  
"Sounds like you resent living in her shadow," Oliver commented. He didn't know they were sisters. He just assumed Dawn was one of the Slayer's friends and helpers.  
  
"I bet that's something you know a lot about," Dawn countered. "How does it feel to know that he's the Chosen One and you're nothing but a sidekick?" Buffy told Dawn about the two vampires she fought last night. The other vampire wore the crown, so Dawn drew the appropriate conclusions about the crownless vampire she was fighting.  
  
"I'm his partner!," Oliver yelled as he attack Dawn in a fit of rage. He hit her first in the stomach. She crouched down and covered her face with her arms. He hit her in the side of the head, the back of the neck, then grabbed her hair. He spun Dawn around twice before hurling her head-first into a large boulder.  
  
Dawn got up quickly. She knew she was getting to him. She slowly backpedaled to buy time. "Does he treat he treat you like a partner? Well, does he? I bet he doesn't. I bet he bosses you around, gives you orders, never listens to your ideas, treats you like a child. I bet he never even appreciates all the things you do for him."  
  
Oliver decided to change the subject. "What is this, foreplay? Trying to bargain? Convince me to turn you rather than just kill you? You're so calm, little girl. Like maybe you've done this before. I bet I'm not the first vampire you've flirted with. You like our kind, don't you? The power, the danger. The thrill."  
  
"Oh please. You're pathetic," Dawn sneered. "You can't kill me, so you hit on me."  
  
Oliver growled. Dawn didn't realize the Spike-Buffy parallel she had just made. But she did realize the danger she was in. She pulled out a large cross, and held it out to keep Oliver at bay. A cross in her left hand, a stake in her right. Oliver growled again, bent his knees, as if poised to strike, and swayed side to side. "You've thought about it, haven't you? Becoming an immortal. All the pain, all the angst, it melts away." She was a teenager, so she had to feel these things.  
  
Oliver leaped in the air and flew over Dawn's head. She turned to face him. After he landed, he kicked her with a roundhouse left and she staggered backwards. With a right kick he knocked the cross out of Dawn's left hand. Then he leaped at her and pinned her to the ground. With his left hand he held held down Dawn's right wrist so she couldn't stake him. His right hand was on her forehead. He stroked her hair. "I think you'd make a wonderful vampire," he told her as he went to bite her neck.  
  
When Dawn felt his teeth graze the skin on her neck, she pulled up her left hand and scratched Oliver near his right eye. Dawn created a two inch-long bleeding gash on his face. Oliver yelled and grabbed his eye in pain. Dawn pushed him off of her. "Not with you as my sire!," she taunted as she got up and ran away.  
  
Willow fled for her life in the direction of the road out of the park. She ran down the road, hoping the demons gave up the chase before they caught her. She knew this was not likely. She did whatever she could to keep them away. When she spotted a trash can, she threw it in their direction to slow them down. When she saw rocks, she picked them up and hurled them at the demons. This bought her enough time to make it to the bottom of the hill. But Willow knew that the further she ran the farther away she was from Buffy. Her situation seemed hopeless.  
  
Xander came up the access road to the park. He turned on his high beams. In the distance he saw Willow and rolled down his window, sticking his head out. "Willow! Willow!," he screamed. "Get in!" She saw the red truck. "Xander?," she exclaimed in disbelief. He stopped. She leaped onto the flatbed. Then he shifted into reverse and quickly backed up. After creating some distance between himself and the demons, he sped forward, gunning for them. He knocked two of them down. A third demon leaped in through the passenger-side window.  
  
"Xander, look out!," Willow yelled. She grabbed the demon by the neck from behind, and pulled it out of the truck. It fell on its back on the road. Willow leaped to the ground, raised her ax and beheaded the demon.  
  
Willow and Xander looked at each other. "You saved me!," they exclaimed simultaneously. "Xander, get out of the truck. I think the demons went in the woods," Willow told him. Xander had no idea what was going on, so he did what Willow told him.  
  
"A weapon? A weapon? My vehicle for a weapon?," he asked. Willow gave him the ax and took out a short sword. They went a few feet into the woods. No sign of the demons.  
  
"Wait a second. Silly me. Back to the truck," Willow ordered. Xander, who still had no idea what was going on, thought this was an even better idea. They got into the truck. "There's a fourth one. He's not injured. If we're out there he could get us. We should go to Buffy."  
  
Yagos met up with his injured demons. "You pathetic creatures. Anyone ever teach you how to get out of the way? Well, how are you two?" Yagos took a look. They could barely walk. They certainly couldn't fight. "You're worthless! You're worthless to me!" he said as he walked away.  
  
"Please," one of them pleaded. "You don't leave your men behind. You're too honorable to do that,"  
  
"You never were my men. You were always expendable. Now I can get 20 demons to replace you two."  
  
The other injured demon now spoke up. "You mean Ascher can get 20 demons to replace us. To him, you're as worthless as we are." That hurt. Yagos knew this demon had a point. He raced back to the top of the hill.  
  
"Go to Buffy. Always a good idea," Xander commented. "Where is Buffy?"  
  
"I don't know."  
  
"Okay, that can't be good." Xander gulped in fear. "Where do we go then?"  
  
"Top of the hill, I guess. To the cave, where we started out."  
  
Xander drove up the road. "Now that my life's in danger, care to tell me what's going on?"  
  
"Xander stop!," Willow exclaimed. A large tree had fallen in the path of the road. Too large for Xander to drive over. He had to stop. But when he stopped, he felt the truck tip backward. Yagos had pushed the tree down. And now Yagos was lifting up Xander's truck. He got the front two wheels a few inches off the ground before Xander and Willow realized what was happening.  
  
"It's the fourth demon!," Willow exclaimed.  
  
"Ya think?, Xander answered sarcastically. He was used to risking his life. But he was not used to risking his life while having no idea what was trying to kill him. That was what bothered him. He put the truck in reverse. His back tires spun and the truck moved back a few feet. Yagos approached. Xander and Willow realized they couldn't drive to Buffy because of the log blocking the road. And by fleeing backwards, they were just moving further away from the Slayer. It was obvious they had to stand their ground and fight.  
  
So Xander stopped the truck. "It's him or us, Willow. You ready?" Xander quickly sped a few feet forward to the log. Yagos leaped behind the felled tree. Xander slammed on the brakes and they both got out. They stepped over the log and approached Yagos, Xander on his right, Willow on his left. They looked very determined. Yagos didn't think these two humans were worth the risk or the effort. Also, he wanted to talk to Ascher. So he turned and fled without even throwing a blow.  
  
Xander and Willow could not believe their luck. The demon was afraid of them! He wasn't, but that's what it looked like. "That's right, we bad," Xander bragged.  
  
Willow smiled ear-to-ear. It was a miracle. No, it was just Xander. Come to think of it, it was both. But she went for understated sarcasm. "Harris, what took you so long?"  
  
"I had a date. I would have been here earlier. but the woman found me irresistible."  
  
"A highly unlikely story, but not beyond the realm of possibility," Willow joked. After all, she once found him well nigh irresistible.  
  
The two of them started rolling the log out of the road. "Care to tell me what exactly is going on here?"  
  
"A vampire found some mystical crown that makes him a superbad king of the demons or something. He's fighting Buffy. There's another vampire. He's fighting Dawn. And there were four demons. I had them all to myself. It's been one of those nights."  
  
They cleared the road, got back in the truck and drove to the cave. "How did you guys get split up?," Xander wondered.  
  
"It was Buffy's idea," Willow replied. This sounded highly unusual to Xander.  
  
"I assume she had a good reason to do something so clearly insane."  
  
"More of a hunch than a good reason. She wanted to isolate the leader. Thinks he's weaker without his gang."  
  
"Perhaps. But Buffy's also weaker without her gang."  
  
Dawn had only the most general idea of where Buffy was. Lucky for her, she was closer than she thought - about 150 yards away.  
  
Buffy made little headway against Ascher. But he could do little to hurt her. They blocked most of each other's blows, landed a few, maneuvered around, leaped in the air, tried all their tricks. It was getting tiring. Worse than that, it was getting boring.  
  
"Buffy!!! Buffy!!!," Dawn screamed, hoping her sister would hear.  
  
Buffy did hear. "Dawn! Dawn, I'm over here!," she yelled so Dawn could follow her voice. Ascher also heard. He was upset. His men should have killed the girl by now. When Dawn got close, Buffy moved toward her. Ascher followed. He wasn't looking for Dawn. He was looking for whoever failed to kill Dawn.  
  
Buffy and Dawn met up. "Dawn, are you okay? I think you're bleeding."  
  
Dawn didn't like the way Buffy was babying her. "I'm fine. I'm here, aren't I? The other vampire went after me. I was more than he could handle."  
  
Buffy hugged Dawn. "Of course you were. So what about the demons?"  
  
"Demons? I didn't see any demons. Oh. They must have gone after - "  
  
"Willow! Oh no," Buffy exclaimed. "I can't believe I let this happen." Buffy and Dawn ran back to the cave. They feared the worst.  
  
"Why is the girl still alive?," Ascher demanded of Oliver.  
  
"Why is the Slayer still alive?," Oliver parroted back.  
  
"Cause she's the Slayer. Yours was just some girl. I thought you could handle a routine kill like that."  
  
Buffy and Dawn sprinted up the hill. Dawn was tired. She had been doing a lot of running. She slowed down and started walking. Buffy slowed down. She wasn't going to abandon her sister to the neurotic by very strong vampire. Both of them heard something galloping towards them. Naturally, they assumed it was the demons. They prepared to defend themselves. Dawn picked up a large stick to attack them with. When the galloping grew close, Buffy charged. Dawn followed.  
  
It was dark, and all they could see were two forms racing towards them. Buffy tackled one. Dawn hit the other in the head with her stick. Buffy looked to see what she was on top of. "Willow?"  
  
Dawn heard this. She looked to see what she had hit. "Xander?"  
  
"You're alive!," Buffy exclaimed to Willow.  
  
"Yes. As long as you don't plan on hitting me again."  
  
"Xander, I'm so sorry. I thought you were a demon," Dawn told him as she helped him up.  
  
"What happened?," Buffy asked Willow.  
  
"I was running for my life and Xander came to my rescue. Then I came to his rescue. Long story short, one demon dead, two probably out of commission, one on the run. Get this, Xander and I were going to fight him and he chickened out!"  
  
"We scared him off! So I take it the vampires are dead?," an impatient Xander asked Buffy.  
  
"No. They're both alive."  
  
"They're alive. And your alive. That's not normal," Willow noted.  
  
"They're cowards," Dawn explained.  
  
"Then why are we just standing here?," Xander demanded to know. "I mean people, come on, how anticlimactic. Not to mention all those people who could die while we brag about how tough we are."  
  
"Xander's right," Buffy concurred.  
  
"Somebody remember the time and date. Come on, it's not everyday she says that," Xander quipped.  
  
Buffy continued. "We can't led the guy with the Arete get a chance to rally other demons to his side. We gotta hunt him down now. As for the other two, forget about them. They don't matter." The four of them went back up the hill to Xander's truck. They drove around the park's perimeter. Then they checked some of the local demon hangouts, places where Ascher would find support. No unusual activity. None of the other demons even seemed to realize what was afoot. It was apparent Ascher had not made his way into town. So they went back to the vicinity of the park.  
  
Ascher and Oliver were busy arguing. "This is so typical," Oliver began. "I see you, and you're all 'why didn't you kill the girl.' What about 'hey Oliver, thanks for saving my neck back there.' Cause I did. Literally. I don't know how many times I've saved your ass, and you've never thanked me once."  
  
"Damn. I'm sorry. I didn't know you were so needy," Ascher answered. "I thought you were a man. I didn't think you needed to be patted on the head and complimented all the time like a goddam child."  
  
"Look, if you don't need me, I'll just be on my way. Cause I don't need to take this kind of abuse."  
  
"Well I don't need you, Olly! You were always the one who needed me!"  
  
"Fine, Ash. See how you good do without me. Let's see how you do when no one else is around to do things you can take credit for. You stand on someone else's shoulders and you think you're twelve feet tall. That doesn't make you a giant. It makes you a dumbass."  
  
Ascher was furious. "You wanna see how much I need you? Here's how much I need you!" He ripped off a ten foot long branch from a nearby tree and stuck it through Oliver. Oliver looked stunned. Ascher appeared to be enraged but delighted. Then Oliver was dust. Ascher knew he didn't need him anymore. He didn't need anyone anymore.  
  
He walked toward the town and ran into Yagos. "How ya been, Yagos? Kill anyone lately?"  
  
"My men failed me. So I came back to you to regroup. Have you killed the Slayer?"  
  
"Who cares about her?"  
  
"You did. That's why you overruled me about first building up our numbers."  
  
"How could I overrule you? You don't have a say."  
  
"No. I guess I don't. And apparently that's the problem. We had six men. Had you listened to me, by now we would have 60. But you did things your way, and now we have two."  
  
"Are you questioning my authority?"  
  
"I'm questioning your use of that authority. You're squandering your power. You can't be a leader of demons if you don't any have demons to lead."  
  
"A leader needs followers. I can always find followers. What I don't need is insubordinate traitors who are only out for themselves."  
  
Yagos shook his head. "That's the problem with power. It's wasted on all the wrong people. Have fun on your own, Ascher." Yagos turns his back on him.  
  
"Go ahead and walk away from your master. You'll die without me!"  
  
Buffy heard the bickering. She recognized Ascher's voice. With Dawn, Willow and Xander in tow she approached them.  
  
"Wrong," Buffy announced. "He'll die with you."  
  
As much as they hated each other, Yagos and Ascher realized that right now they were in this together. Buffy stared the two of them down. Willow, Dawn and Xander moved behind them. Ascher and Yagos had become the hunted. Ascher charged Buffy, confident in his power. Yagos, who had run from Willow and Xander, now eagerly attacked Willow, Xander and Dawn. Under normal circumstances, the Scoobies would have been petrified. But when Willow and Xander looked at Yagos, they didn't see an extremely powerful demon. They saw a coward.  
  
Ascher went after Buffy with all the vigor of a man who knew he was fighting for his life. He put her on the defensive, landed several blows, and parried her counterattacks. When she got close, he grabbed her and threw her to the ground. When she launched flying kicks, he backed up out of the way and nailed her when she returned to the ground. He was tougher than Buffy had expected.  
  
Yagos charged Willow and knocked her to the ground. He tried to maul her. She held onto his two horns like handlebars, trying to keep his teeth away from her neck. Then the horns got all slippery. (Horns that self-lubricate when needed - a nifty evolutionary development.) Willow couldn't hold on, and she couldn't hold Yagos off. Xander and Dawn hit Yagos repeatedly from behind. He rose, grabbed Xander, and threw him twenty feet back. He took a swipe at Dawn's head. She ducked down and rolled forward.  
  
Willow got up, grabbed her ax, and swung at Yagos. He grabbed the ax handle and tried to wrestle the weapon away from Willow. Dawn leaped on his back and put her arms around his head. She was trying to snap his neck, but she wasn't familiar with the proper technique. Still, her arms did obstruct his vision and cause him to stagger away from Willow. Xander had gotten up and took advantage of Yagos's distraction by punching him several times in the stomach. Yagos backpedaled until Dawn hit a tree trunk and let go.  
  
Yagos was free. Be he was still surrounded. Xander punched him in the face. he knocked Xander down. Dawn came at him from behind with a stake. He turned around, grabbed the arm which held the stake, and threw Dawn in the air. She landed near Xander. Willow stuck the ax into his lower back. It didn't kill him, but it hurt him badly. He turned to attack Willow. She ran away. As Yagos chased her, Xander dove at his knees and tripped him up. Yagos fell on his face, but tackled Willow on his way down. He grabbed hold of her right ankle and dragged her toward him. But Dawn approached and beheaded Yagos with Willow's ax. He turned to dust.  
  
Buffy and Ascher exchanged blows. It was getting tedious once again. Whenever Buffy tried to stake him, he grabbed the arm which held the stake and threw Buffy to the ground. Every time he tried to bite or choke her or snap her neck, she knocked him away or tossed him on his back. It seemed neither of them was capable of killing the other. But now that Yagos was no more, Buffy had some help. Dawn hurled the ax at Ascher from behind. It landed in him just below his neck. He laughed and knocked Buffy on her back with a left cross and a right uppercut. How was an ax in the back going to hurt him?  
  
Buffy knew how. She vaulted to her feet, leaped over Ascher, did a midair flip and grabbed the ax's handle. When she landed behind Ascher, she was holding the ax. As he turned to face her, she cut through his neck. His head sailed through the air and landed softly on the ground. His body turned to dust, as did his head and crown. Buffy looked disappointed.  
  
"Oh. I wanted to keep that." Her friends looked worried. "Not for the power. It was pretty. Like that Homecoming crown I should have won."  
  
"So is that it?," Xander innocently asked. Buffy Willow and Dawn, all of them bruised and scratched and bleeding, glare at their uninjured friend. "I didn't mean it like that. I just wanted to know if their were any more bad guys we had to kill."  
  
"Maybe tomorrow," Buffy answered laconically. She walked back to Xander's truck. The other three followed her. Boyfriends came and went. As long as Buffy had her friends, she'd be all right.  
  
"Buffy, have you put that whole lesbian phase behind you?," Willow asked in jest.  
  
"I have. You were right."  
  
"W-w-wai-wait. L-la-lesbian phase? What lesbian phase?," a very perplexed and curious Xander asked.  
  
"It was nothing," Willow responded.  
  
"Just a joke," Buffy added.  
  
"You had to not be there," Dawn concluded.  
  
"What exactly did Willow mean by 'lesbian phase,'?" Xander wondered.  
  
"Forget it and get in the car," Buffy answered. The three women did this. Willow rode shotgun. Buffy and Dawn were in the back seat. Xander stood in front of the driver's side door.  
  
"I'm your best friend. I believe I have a right to know." Buffy opened her door.  
  
"There's nothing to know. No get in and drive us home before something attacks you. I've done enough killing for one night."  
  
Xander shrugs, gets in and drives off.  
  
"So how was your date?," Buffy asked, changing the subject.  
  
"Really good."  
  
"She's not a demon?," Dawn asked. "Or an ex-demon?"  
  
"Nope," Willow answered. "She's human, and she's nice. Which is a first for Xander." Willow added the "nice" comment to exclude Cordelia.  
  
"And I don't think she even knows about vampires," Xander added. Then he looked worried. "Which might not be a good thing, if she's going to keep meeting me at night in Sunnydale."  
  
"You could always go back to her place," Buffy suggested. Xander was a little stunned. He wanted to take this relationship slow, and hadn't even thought that far ahead.  
  
"Xander stop," Willow called out. He did. She got out. At the side of the road were the two injured demons, limping off to parts unknown. They were too hurt to defend themselves, but Willow didn't care. After all, they tried to kill her. She beheaded the two pitiful creatures with her ax and got back in the truck. The four of them left, victorious and together.  
  
The next morning, Spike, Sterling, Zooey and Elise left. Anya was alone in her shop. Buffy was alone in her house. Willow was off at class. Xander was at work. Dawn was at school. Patrick Gugan was busy in his laboratory. He was not alone. 


End file.
